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PEIITCETOH- 
HtC.  APR  1882 

THS0L06I0&L 


> 


BV    2520    .S6 

Smith,  Samuel  Francis,  1808 

1895, 
Missionary  sketches 


Missionary  Sketches  : 


A    CONCISE  HISTORY 


OF  THE  WORK  OF  THE 


American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 


S.   F>^MITH,   D.D. 


"  And  they  went  forth,  and  preached  everywhere,  the  Lord  working  with 
them,  and  confirming  the  word  with  signs  following.  Amen."  —  Mark 
xvL  20. 


MISSION  ROOMS,  BOSTON: 

W.   G.   CORTHELL,  PUBLISHER. 

1879. 


Copyright,  1879, 
By  W.  G.  CORTHELL. 


Franklin  Press: 

Stereotyped  and  Printed  by 

Rand,  Avery,  &>  Co., 

Boston. 


PREFACE. 


These  sketches  were  suggested  by  my  friend  Rev, 
Dr.  Bright,  of  New  York,  and  appeared  in  successive 
months  in  "The  Examiner  and  Chronicle."  They 
were  received  with  much  favor,  and  I  have  been  re- 
quested by  many  whose  judgment  I  respect,  to  gather 
them  together  into  their  present  form.  Each  chapter  is 
of  proper  length  to  be  read  at  one  sitting,  or  at  a  mis- 
sionary concert ;  and  each  gives  a  concise  view  of  a 
single  mission.  Within  so  narrow  a  compass,  it  was 
impossible  to  embrace  every  name,  or  interesting  inci- 
dent, or  succession  of  events,  or  important  detail. 
The  work  aims  to  be  only  what  its  title  implies.  I 
have  revised  the  Sketches,  and  continued  them  to  the 
present  date.  I  lay  the  little  volume  on  the  altar  of 
missions,  and  dedicate  it  to  Him,  to  whom,  in  due 
time,  "  every  knee  shall  bow."  S.  F.  S. 


"For  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the 
going   down   of  the  same,   my  name  shall  be  great 

AMONG  THE  GeNTILES  ;  AND  IN  EVERY  PLACE  INCENSE 
SHALL  BE  OFFERED  UNTO  MY  NAME,  AND  A  PURE  OFFER- 
ING ;   FOR  MY  NAME  SHALL  BE  GREAT  AMONG  THE  HEATHEN, 

SAiTH  THE  Lord  of  hosts."  —  Mai,  i.  ii. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

I.  Mission  to  Rangoon 7 

II.  Mission  to  Maulmain 23 

III.  Mission  to  Tavoy 38 

IV.  Mission  in  Arracan 52 

V.  Mission  to  Prome 65 

VI.  Mission  to  Toungoo 78 

VII.  Mission  in  Henthada 93 

VIII.  Bassein  Mission 108 

IX.  Shwaygyeen  Mission 123 

X.  Mission  to  the  Shans 138 

XI.  Mission  to  Assam 154 

XII.  Mission  in  Siam 173 

XIII.  Mission  to  the  Teloogoos 189 

XIV.  Southern  China  Mission 218 

XV.  Eastern  China  or  Ningpo  Mission       .        .        .  238 

XVI.  Mission  to  Japan 256 

XVII.  Mission  to  Africa 270 

XVIII.  Mission  to  France       .        .        .        .        .        .  286 

XIX.  The  German  Mission 304 

XX.  Mission  to  Sweden 327 

XXI.  Mission  to  Greece 345 

XXII.  Mission  to  Spain 353 

5 


/pElHCBTOH 


MISSIONARY   SKETCHES. 


No.  I. 

MISSION   TO   RANGOON. 

About  Rangoon.  —  How  the  Mission  began  in  Rangoon.  —  The  Pros- 
pect and  Ground  of  Success.  —  Additional  Missionaries.  —  The 
First  Convert,  —  Seeking  Toleration.  —  The  First  Burmese  War. 
—  A  Splendid  Gift.  —  After  the  War.  —  The  Work  among  the 
Karens.  —  Present  Condition.  —  A  Bible  given  to  the  King.  — 
The  Karen  Theological  Seminary.  —  The  Atlantic  Cable  used  to 
Rangoon.  —  College  at  Rangoon.  —  A  Bible  for  the  Queen.  — 
Victoria's  Autograph.  —  Death  of  Dr.  Binney* 

IN  the  history  of  the  Burman  mission,  the 
name  of  Rangoon  meets  us  first ;  and  around 
it  have  clustered,  during  the  last  sixty-five  years, 
circumstances  of  ever  new  and  varying  interest. 
Rangoon  is  situated  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Bay  of  Bengal,  on  the  Rangoon  River,  nearly 
midway  between  Maulmain  on  the  east  and  Bas- 
sein  on  the  west.  It  is  reached  by  a  regular 
mail  steamer  from  Calcutta,  the  voyage  occupy- 
ing about  a  week.  Steamers  of  the  **  Anchor 
Line  "  leave  New  York  at  regular  intervals  for 
Glasgow ;  and  once  a  month  a  steamer  of  the 
same  line  leaves  Glasgow  direct  for  Rangoon, 
vid  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  and  the  Suez  Canal 


8  MISSION  TO  RANGOON. 

The  distance  from  New  York  to  Rangoon  is 
about  seven  weeks. 

The  inhabitants  of  Rangoon  are  mainly  Bur- 
mese, with  a  mixed  population  of  other  Eastern 
peoples.  Rangoon  being  a  central  seat  of  the 
British  power  in  Burmah,  a  regiment  of  British 
troops  is  always  quartered  there.  The  climate 
is  favorable  to  health.  There  is  daily  a  refresh- 
ing sea-breeze,  and  the  music  of  the  military 
band  every  evening  is  peculiarly  charming. 

On  the  6th  of  February,  1812,  now  sixty-seven 
years  ago,  five  young  men  were  ordained  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry  at  the  Tabernacle  Church 
in  Salem,  Mass.  These  were  the  first  mission- 
aries from  America  to  the  heathen,  —  the  seed 
of  those  countless  blessings  which  have  enriched 
both  earth  and  heaven.  On  the  19th  of  Feb- 
ruary two  of  the  number,  with  their  wives, 
sailed  from  Salem,  then  an  important  East  India 
port,  for  Calcutta.  One  of  these  brethren,  to 
use  his  own  words,  took  the  back  streets  and 
lanes  on  his  way  to  the  ship,  in  the  gray  of  the 
February  morning,  to  avoid  the  gibes  and  jests 
of  those  who  made\fun  of  the  Quixotic  under- 
taking. The  three  remaining  missionaries,  with 
the  wife  of  one  of  them,  sailed  on  the  i8th  from 
Philadelphia.  On  the  vessel  from  Salem  were 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  ;  and  on  that  from  Phila- 
delphia was  Mr.  Rice. 

While  these  missionaries  in  their  separate 
vessels  were  crossing  the  great  waters,  one  of 
the  brethren  in  each  of  the  two  ships  was  led 
providentially  to  the  thought  that  on  reaching 
India  they  would  naturally  be  led   to   consult 


HOW  THE  MISSION  BEGAN  jN  RANGOON    9 

with  the  English  missionaries  who  had  been 
laboring  there  since  1789,  in  regard  to  their 
future  field  and  work.  The  experience  of  such 
a  man  as  Carey  could  not  fail  to  be  important  to 
them.  "  But,"  they  very  naturally  said  to  them- 
selves, "these  brethren  are  Baptists;  and,  if 
they  should  chance  to  touch  upon  our  Pedobap- 
tist  principles,  how  should  we  defend  them .?  '* 
This  thought  sent  them  to  their  Greek  Testa- 
ments and  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  divine 
Teacher ;  and  with  no  other  books  treating  on 
this  subject,  and  under  such  a  teacher,  they 
wrought  out  the  argument  which  made  them 
Baptists ;  and,  on  arriving  in  Calcutta,  they  were 
baptized  by  Rev.  Mr.  Ward.  The  baptistery  in 
which  the  solemn  ordinance  was  administered 
stands  as  on  the  day  when  they  thus  acknowl- 
edged publicly  their  acceptance  of  **  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism." 

A  son  of  Dr.  Carey,  Mr.  Felix  Carey,  had 
begun  a  mission-work  in  Rangoon,  but  was 
■about  to  abandon  it  for  a  government  appoint- 
ment at  the  capital.  Dr.  Carey  used  to  say, 
"  My  son  began  as  a  minister  of  Christ ;  but, 
alas !  he  has  dwindled  down  into  a  civil  ambas- 
sador." Messrs.  Judson  and  Rice,  and  Mrs. 
Judson,  after  various  and  trying  adventures  and 
discouragements,  sailed  from  Madras  in  an  old 
and  unseaworthy  vessel,  and  were  in  imminent 
danger  of  shipwreck ;  but.  Divinely  guarded, 
they  reached  Rangoon  safely  in  July,  18 13. 

They  had  been  driven  from  the  British  pos- 
sessions in  India  by  the  intolerance  of  the  Eng- 
lish East  India  Company.     Rangoon  was  at  that 


lO  MISSION  TO  RANGOON. 

time  beyond  the  reach  of  that  company,  under 
the  dominion  of  its  Burman  rulers.  One  of 
the  laws  of  the  Burmese  empire  made  it  a  capi- 
tal crime  for  a  native  of  the  country  to  forsake 
his  ancestral  religion.  Yet  here  these  pioneers 
of  the  gospel  pitched  their  tent,  and  planted 
the  standard  of  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Judson  —  they  two  ^  celebrated  their  first 
communion  together  in  Rangoon  on  Sabbath, 
Sept.  19,  1 81 3. 

After  three  years  of  apparently  fruitless  toil, 
Mr.  Judson  wrote  thus  of  his  prospects,  to  his 
fellow-laborer,  Mr.  Rice  :  — 

"  If  any  ask  what  success  I  meet  with  among  the  na- 
tives, tell  them  to  look  at  Otaheite,  where  the  mission- 
aries labored  nearly  twenty  years,  and,  not  meeting  with 
the  slightest  success,  began  to  be  neglected  by  all  the 
Christian  world,  and  the  very  name  of  Otaheite  was  con- 
sidered a  shame  to  the  cause  of  missions ;  but  now  the 
blessing  begins  to  descend.  Tell  them  to  look  at  Bengal 
also,  where  Dr.  Thomas  had  been  laboring  seventeen 
years,  that  is  from  1783  to  1800,  before  the  first  convert, 
Krishnoo,  was  baptized.  When  a  few  converts  are  once 
made,  things  move  on.  But  it  requires  a  much  longer 
time  than  I  have  been  here  to  make  a  first  impression  on 
a  heathen  people.  If  they  ask  again,  What  prospect  of 
ultimate  success  is  there  1  tell  them,  as  much  as  there  is 
that  there  is  an  almighty  and  faithful  God,  who  will  per- 
form his  promises  —  and  no  more.  If  this  does  not  sat- 
isfy them,  beg  them  to  let  me  stay  and  make  the  attempt, 
and  let  you  come,  and  give  us  our  bread.  Or,  if  they  are 
unwilling  to  risk  their  bread  on  such  a  forlorn  hope  as 
has  nothing  but  the  word  of  God  to  sustain  it,  beg  of 
them  at  least  not  to  prevent  others  from  giving  us  bread. 
And,  if  we  live  some  twenty  or  thirty  years,  they  may 
hear  from  us  again." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hough  joined  the  mission  in 


THE  FIRST  CONVERT.  ii 

October,  1816;  and  Messrs.  Wheelock  and  Col- 
man,  with  their  wives,  Sept.  19,  181 8.  A  zayat, 
or  open  shed,  was  erected  in  Rangoon  for  the 
purpose  of  preaching  the  gospel,  and  labor  was 
commenced  in  it  in  April,  18 19.  Much  had 
been  already  done  to  communicate  the  truths  of 
Christianity  in  a  private  way ;  but  this  was  the 
first  formal  attempt  to  have  public  worship. 
The  first  congregation  numbered  fifteen,  besides 
children,  and  was  disorderly  and  inattentive. 
The  second  Sabbath  the  assembly  increased  to 
twenty-five  or  thirty,  and  tracts  were  given 
them  at  the  close.  Besides  the  Sabbath  work, 
Mr.  Judson  sat  on  the  floor  in  an  open  room  of 
the  zayat  from  morning  till  night  every  day  in 
the  week,  ready  to  instruct  all  who  might  chance 
to  call,  in  the  way  that  leads  to  heaven.  The 
first  convert,  Moung  Nau,  after  the  patient 
waiting  and  toil  of  six  years,  made  his  first 
visit  to  the  zayat  April  30,  18 19,  and  repeated 
his  visit  for  several  successive  days.  On  the 
5th  of  May  Mr.  Judson  wrote  thus  in  his 
journal :  — 

"  Moung  Nau  has  been  with  me  several  hours.  I 
begin  to  think  that  the  grace  of  God  has  reached  his 
heart.  He  expresses  sentiments  of  repentance  for  his 
sins,  and  faith  in  the  Saviour.  The  substance  of  his  pro- 
fession is,  that  from  all  the  darkness  and  uncleanness 
and  sins  of  his  whole  life,  he  has  found  no  other  Saviour 
but  Jesus  Christ ;  nowhere  else  can  he  look  for  salva- 
tion ;  and  therefore  he  proposes  to  adhere  to  Christ,  and 
worship  him  all  his  life  long. 

"  It  seems  almost  too  much  to  believe,  that  God  has 
begun  to  manifest  his  grace  to  the  Burmans ;  but  this 
day  I  could  not  resist  the  delightful  conviction  that  this 
is  really  the  case.    Praise   and   glory   be   to   his 

NAME  FOREVERMORE!   AmEN." 


12  MISSION  TO  RANGOON. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  Moung  Nau  declared 
himself  a  disciple  of  Christ,  in  the  presence  of 
several  of  his  countrymen.  Another  seemed 
inclined  the  same  way,  and  two  or  three  more 
seemed  to  feel  that  the  Buddhist  religion  had  no 
foundation.  On  the  6th  of  June,  Moung  Nau, 
in  a  most  interesting  and  appropriate  letter 
addressed  to  the  missionary  brethren,  asked  for 
baptism.  The  request  was  granted  ;  and  on  the 
27th  of  June,  1 8 19,  the  first  baptism  occurred  in 
the  Burman  empire. 

On  the  7th  of  November  the  second  and 
third  candidates  were  baptized;  and  a  week 
afterwards  the  three  converts  repaired  to  the 
zayat,  and  held  a  prayer-meeting  of  their  own 
accord. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hough  were  now  for  a  sea- 
son in  Bengal.  Mr.  Wheelock  had  finished  his 
course,  and  entered  into  his  rest.  It  could  not 
long  be  concealed  from  a  jealous  government, 
that  some  of  its  subjects  had  been  guilty  of  the 
heinous  crime  of  forsaking  Gaudama,  and  be- 
lieving in  Jesus.  Judson  and  Colman  at  Ran- 
goon determined  that  the  state  of  the  cause 
demanded  that  an  effort  should  be  made  to  pro- 
cure toleration  for  the  converts  to  the  Christian 
religion.  Accordingly  on  the  22d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1 8 19,  leaving  their  families  in  Rangoon, 
they  embarked  in  a  river-boat,  rowed  by  ten 
men,  on  the  Irrawaddy,  on  their  way  to  Amera- 
pura,  the  capital,  five  hundred  miles  above  Ran- 
goon, to  visit  the  king,  "  the  lord  of  life  and 
death."  They  took  with  them  the  Bible  in  six 
volumes,  covered  with  gold-leaf,  and  each  vol- 


SEEKING   TOLERATION.  13 

ume  enclosed  in  a  rich  wrapper,  as  a  present  to 
the  king,  and  several  other  gifts  for  the  mem- 
bers of  the  royal  government.  They  arrived 
Jan.  25,  and  two  days  afterwards  came  the 
important  interview.  The  petition  of  the  mis- 
sionaries in  writing  was  presented  to  the  king, 
which  was  first  read  before  him,  and  then  he 
took  it  in  his  hand,  and  read  it  deliberately 
through,  after  which  he  handed  it  back,  not 
saying  a  single  word.  A  tract  containing  a 
brief  summary  of  Christianity  was  then  offered 
him.  He  read  two  sentences,  which  assert  that 
there  is  one  eternal  God,  independent  of  the 
incidents  of  mortality,  and  that  besides  him 
there  is  no  God ;  and  then,  "  with  an  air  of  in- 
difference, perhaps  disdain,  he  dashed  it  to  the 
ground."  An  attempt  was  made  to  soothe  his 
angry  passion  by  unfolding  one  of  the  volumes 
of  the  Bible,  and  displaying  its  beauty ;  but  his 
Majesty  took  no  notice.  In  a  few  moments  an 
attendant  thus  interpreted  his  royal  master's 
will:  "In  regard  to  the  objects  of  your  peti- 
tion, his  Majesty  gives  no  order.  In  regard  to 
your  sacred  books,  his  Majesty  has  no  use  for 
them:  take  them  away."  (These  volumes  — 
Scott's  Commentary  on  the  Bible,  in  six  vol- 
umes —  were  afterwards  returned  to  this  coun- 
try, and  are  now  in  the  Mission  Library  in 
Boston.)  The  effort  had  proved  a  failure ;  and 
the  laws  forbidding  a  native  to  change  his  reli- 
gion on  pain  of  death  remained  on  the  statute- 
book  of  the  empire,  unrepealed. 

When  the  result  of  the  visit  to  the  king  was 
communicated   to  the  converts  at  Rangoon,  it 


14  MISSION  TO  RANGOON, 

was  a  joyful  surprise  that  they  all  remained 
steadfast  to  their  profession.  They  begged  the 
missionaries  in  no  case  to  desert  the  station,  at 
least  not  till  there  should  be  eight  or  ten  disci- 
ples ;  and  they  affirmed  that  several  even  now 
were  examining  the  new  religion.  They  be- 
lieved that  one  of  their  number  might  be 
appointed  a  teacher  of  the  rest,  and  that,  with 
such  a  nucleus,  the  new  religion  would  spread 
of  itself. 

It  was  finally  resolved  that  Mr.  Colman 
should  seek  a  spot  in  British  India,  to  which, 
if  persecution  should  be  aroused,  the  mission- 
aries and  converts  might  retire,  and  be  secure. 
He  went  to  Chittagong,  where  he  found  a 
population  protected  by  English  laws,  and  for 
whom  he  could  labor  in  the  gospel.  But  his 
service  was  soon  ended.     He  died  July  4,  1822. 

During  the  next  three  or  four  years  Mrs. 
Judson  had  visited  Calcutta,  England,  Scotland, 
and  her  native  land,  and  done  a  noble  work  for 
the  cause  of  missions.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hough 
had  returned  from  Bengal  to  Rangoon ;  Dr. 
Price  had  joined  the  mission,  and  by  command 
of  the  king,  who  hoped  to  reap  benefit  from 
his  medical  skill,  had  stationed  himself  at  the 
capital.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade  accompanied  Mrs. 
Judson  on  her  return  from  this  country,  and 
arrived  in  Rangoon  Dec.  5,  1823.  The  same 
year  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  by 
Dr.  Judson  was  completed,  together  with  an 
epitome  of  the  Old.  The  day  of  prosperity 
seemed  to  have  dawned. 

But  God's  ways  are  unsearchable.     The  set 


THE  FIRST  BURMESE   WAR.  15 

time  had  not  yet  come.  Various  difficulties  of 
long  standing,  and  new  complications  perpetu- 
ally adding  fuel  to  the  flame,  at  last  culminated 
in  the  declaration  of  war,  —  that  first  Burmese 
war,  with  its  thrilling  scenes  of  terror,  suffer- 
ing, and  heroism,  during  which  for  nearly  three 
3^ears  all  mission  work  was  suspended,  and  the 
gravest  apprehensions  were  felt  for  the  lives  of 
the  brethren.  The  missionaries  were  arrested 
and  imprisoned,  the  Burmans  not  distinguishing 
between  British  and  Americans,  but  classing 
every  person  who  wore  a  hat  under  one  nation- 
ality. When  the  British  barges  ascended  the 
river,  an  executioner  was  placed  over  two  of 
them,  who  knelt  with  bent  heads  and  bared 
necks,  waiting  to  receive  the  fatal  blow ;  for 
the  order  was,  to  strike  off  their  heads  the  in- 
stant a  British  shot  was  fired  into  the  city  of 
Rangoon.  The  shot  was  fired ;  but  the  execu- 
tioner fled  in  terror,  leaving  the  order  unful- 
filled, and  the  brethren  escaped.  After  this, 
Mr.  Judson  was  kept  for  two  years  and  three 
months  in  various  prisons  and  in  fetters,  sub- 
jected to  many  indignities,  and  the  victim  of 
agonizing  sufferings,  while  his  heroic  wife  fol- 
lowed him  from  prison  to  prison,  ministering  to 
his  wants,  striving  to  soften  his  hard-hearted 
keepers  and  to  mitigate  his  woes,  and  inter- 
ceding with  the  high  officers  for  his  deliver- 
ance. In  the  mean  time  the  precious  manu- 
script translation  of  the  New  Testament,  a 
portion  of  which  only  had  been  printed,  was 
for  a  season  buried  in  the  earth  under  a  floor, 
and  afterwards   sewed   up   in   a  pillow,   which 


1 6  MISSION  TO  RANGOON. 

was  bandied  about  from  hand  to  hand  till  the 
close  of  the  war,  so  hard  and  unattractive  as 
not  to  tempt  the  avarice  of  the  poorest  Bur- 
man,  or  to  suggest  the  idea  that  it  was  even 
worthy  to  be  destroyed. 

At  last  the  war  came  to  an  end.  In  the  final 
arrangement  Dr.  Judson  was  employed  by  the 
Government  as  interpreter  in  negotiating  the 
treaty  of  peace  between  the  British  and  Bur- 
mese. And  it  was  now  that  he  made  to  the 
missionary  treasury  the  splendid  donation  of 
about  ten  thousand  dollars,  including  the  re- 
ward received  for  his  services  in  this  business, 
together  with  his  personal  property,  which  he 
thus  gave  in  perpetual  consecration  to  God,  — 
making  himself  poor  that  he  might  make  many 
rich;  an  example  to  Christians  of  every  land, 
giving  to  the  cause  his  property  and  his  life, 
—  all  that  he  had. 

During  the  war,  and  for  a  considerable  time 
afterwards,  there  was  no  resident  missionary  in 
Rangoon.  The  converts  were  scattered,  but 
the  good  seed  was  not  lost.  Ko-Thaha,  one  of 
the  number,  remained  and  preached,  and  many 
were  converted  through  his  ministry.  Jan.  4, 
1829,  he  was  ordained,  the  first  Burman  pastor, 
and  suffered  at  various  times  imprisonment, 
and  scourging,  and  the  stocks,  for  the  name 
of  Christ ;  and  to  a  good  old  age  witnessed  a 
good  confession.  In  a  short  time  the  Burman 
church  again  numbered  more  than  twenty  mem- 
bers, nearly  all.  baptized  by  his  hands.  Several 
native  preachers  were  raised  up.  Many  of  the 
Karens  in  the  vicinity  of  Rangoon  received  Jhe 


WORK  AMONG   THE  KARENS,  17 

gospel.  The  Christians  were  aggressive  in 
their  efforts.  Most  of  them  endured  more  or 
less  persecution ;  but  the  word  of  God  prevailed 
over  all  the  opposition  of  men.  Kincaid,  Jones, 
Mason,  Bennett,  Webb,  Vinton,  Abbott,  and 
others  entered  into  the  work ;  and  grace  and 
peace  were  multiplied. 

The  thrilling  story  of  the  first  baptism  of 
Karen  disciples  —  the  dying  missionary  Board- 
man  looking  on  from  his  couch,  and,  as  it  were, 
waiting  to  carry  the  tidings  to  heaven  —  belongs 
to  the  narrative  of  the  mission  to  Tavoy,  which 
will  be  given  hereafter.  Never  was  there  a 
more  impressive  scene  in  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  never  a  picture  more  worthy  of  the 
imagination  of  the  poet,  or  the  pencil  of  the 
painter.  The  new  missionary.  Mason,  perform- 
ing his  first  official  act ;  the  simple  converts 
*' buried  with  Christ  in  baptism;"  the  devoted 
wife  directly  to  become  a  widow;  the  loving 
attendants  ;  the  dying  missionary,  —  his  emaci- 
ated face  lighted  up  with  a  glow  of  enthusiasm 
as  he  witnessed  this  glorious  harvest-home,  — 
the  rocks,  the  mountains,  the  purling  stream, 
the  fresh  foUage,  and  the  blue  expanse  encir- 
cling all,  —  with  the  thought  that  this  was,  to 
Boardman,  "the  last  of  earth,"  —  must  have 
invested  the  whole  scene  with  a  moral  sublimity 
not  only  touching,  but  overpowering. 

In  January,  1835,  there  were  three  churches  in 
Rangoon,  —  Burman,  Karen,  and  English.  In 
March  of  that  year  three  aged  Karens  came  to 
Rangoon,  five  days'  journey,  to  inquire  concern- 
ing  the  way  of  life.     They  had  never  seen  a 


1 8  MISSION  TO  RANGOON. 

Christian,  or  a  Christian  book,  but  were  directed 
to  the  mission  by  Burman  believers.  In  1837 
a  tract  had  found  its  way  to  every  family  in 
Rangoon  and  vicinity,  and  to  nearly  every  in- 
dividual who  could  read ;  and  hundreds  called 
daily  to  hear  the  preaching  of  the  word.  In 
the  beginning  of  1839  several  hundreds  in  this 
region  were  awaiting  baptism;  and  in  1842  the 
members  connected  with  the  mission  in  Ran- 
goon numbered  774. 

In  1852  war  was  again  declared  by  the  Brit- 
ish Government.  The  result  of  this  war  was 
the  cession  to  the  English  nation  of  Rangoon 
and  all  Southern  Burmah.  This  placed  the 
missionaries  and  converts  under  the  protection 
of  a  Christian  government,  and  was  the  signal 
for  enlarged  operations  and  wider  success. 
Henceforth  persecution  was  no  more. 

Rangoon,  the  first  station  occupied,  is  again 
the  central  point,  in  many  respects,  of  the  mis- 
sion in  Burmah.  Here  are  collected,  besides 
churches  and  preachers  and  missionaries, 
schools,  the  printing  department,  the  Karen 
College,  and  the  Theological  Seminary.  The 
latter,  established  under  Dr.  Binney  in  1859, 
has  become  one  of  the  regularly  organized  the- 
ological schools,  known  and  acknowledged  in 
all  the  world.  The  young  men  here  manifest 
all  the  clearness  and  keenness  of  young  men  in 
America  in  similar  studies.  Messrs.  Carpenter 
and  D.  A.  W.  Smith  were  associated  with  Dr. 
Binney  in  the  work  of  instruction  in  1863-66; 
and  when  the  failing  health  of  Dr.  Binney  com- 
pelled him  to  resign  his  honored,  influential,  and 


A  BIBLE  GIVEN  TO   THE  KING.  19 

most  useful  office  as  the  head  of  the  institution 
in  1875,  Rev.  D.  A.  W.  Smith  was  appointed 
his  successor. 

An  interesting  incident  occurred  in  the  year 
1866,  which  is  worthy  of  record  here.  An 
Armenian  convert  in  Rangoon,  going  to  Man- 
delay,  the  capital,  partly  on  private  business 
and  partly  to  preach  the  gospel,  sought  to  be 
introduced  to  the  king,  who  had  formerly 
known  him,  and  to  take  to  him  as  a  present  a 
quarto  Burmese  Bible.  His  friends  sought  to 
dissuade  him ;  but  he  insisted,  nevertheless, 
adding  a  box  of  candles  to  the  Bible,  fit,  as  he 
said,  "to  be  an  accompaniment,  as  both  are  to 
give  light." 

The  king  received  him  very  kindly,  and  not 
only  took  the  Bible,  but  at  once  opened  it  in 
the  beginning,  and  began  to  read  and  to  con- 
verse upon  it  familiarly  with  one  of  the  min- 
isters, who  himself  was  evidently  somewhat 
familiar  with  it.  After  the  interview,  which 
lasted  about  an  hour,  the  king  rose  to  retire, 
and  was  about  to  take  up  the  Bible,  when  his 
nephew  moved  forward  to  take  it  for  him. 
"Well,"  said  he,  "you  take  and  read  it,  and 
read  it  also  to  me."  All  present  were  greatly 
surprised  that  the  king  regarded  the  Scriptures 
so  favorably,  and  it  became  the  signal  for  many 
to  make  application  for  them.  Thus  many 
portions  of  the  Word  were  distributed  in  the 
palace.  Thus  the  Bible  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  late  king,  and  some  of  its  divine  words  met 
his  eye ;  and,  through  his  favorable  reception 
of  it,  many  took  it  to  their  homes,  where  with 


20  MISSION  TO  RANGOON. 

God's  blessing  it  may  prove  the  power  that 
can  save  through  Jesus  Christ,  a  living  light 
shining  in  a  dark  place. 

Dr.  Binney,  long  connected  with  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  in  Rangoon,  retired  from  that 
office  on  account  of  the  feeble  health  of  Mrs. 
Binney,  but  was  re-appointed  to  the  work,  and 
sailed  for  Burmah  again  Oct.  13,  1866;  and  on 
his  arrival  Mr.  Smith  retired  to  Henthada,  to 
fill  the  place  formerly  occupied  by  Mr.  Thomas. 
This  year  there  were  fifty-three  pupils  in  the 
school. 

In  1867  several  improvements  were  made  in 
the  buildings  and  other  conveniences  of  the 
Seminary,  at  an  expense  of  six  thousand  dol- 
lars, given  for  this  purpose  by  the  late  Profes- 
sor Ruggles,  who  cherished  a  lively  interest  in 
the  institution.  The  same  liberal  friend  of  mis- 
sions placed  in  the  treasury  four  thousand  dol- 
lars, to  be  held  in  perpetual  trust,  the  avails  to 
be  expended  in  publishing  text-books  for  the 
Seminary. 

Early  in  1868  Mrs.  Ingalls  re-commenced  the 
work  at  Thongzai,  which  has  made  the  place 
and  her  name  familiar  wherever  the  mission- 
work  is  known  and  loved.  Miss  Adams  also 
joined  her  in  her  work. 

In  1868  the  Atlantic  cable  was  first  used  in 
the  interest  of  missions.  An  emergency  in  the 
work  arose,  in  which  an  immediate  communica- 
tion with  Rangoon  seemed  to  be  necessary. 
On  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  October,  the  mes- 
sage was  flashed  under  the  ocean,  "  Carpenter 
transferred  to  Bassein,  and  Smith  to  Rangoon.'' 


A  BIBLE  FOR   THE  QUEEN.  21 

The  message  reached  Rangoon  the  third  day 
from  Boston,  and  was  sent  immediately  to  Bas- 
sein,  where  the  brethren  in  Convention  were 
discussing  the  very  subject  to  which  it  referred. 
It  ministered  instant  relief,  and  brought  diverse 
opinions  into  harmony.  All  said  it  was  of  the 
Lord.  The  cost  of  the  message  was  about 
sixty  dollars.  A  few  days  afterwards,  a  Chris- 
tian brother  called  at  the  Rooms,  and  cheerfully 
paid  the  amount. 

In  the  autumn  of  1870  a  proposal  was  first 
made  to  estabhsh  a  Karen  institution  for  gen- 
eral education  at  Rangoon,  to  be  called  the 
Rangoon  Baptist  College.  It  was  opened  for 
instruction  May  28,  1872,  with  seventeen  pupils. 

In  the  course  of  th*e  year  1871  Dr.  Shaw 
Loo,  a  Burman  convert,  who  received  his  lite- 
rary and  medical  education  in  the  United 
States,  entered  on  missionary  work  among  his 
countrymen,  declining  to  accept  a  government 
offer,  that  he  might  more  effectually  serve  the 
cause  of  Christ. 

In  the  year  1872  Mrs.  Ingalls,  of  Thongzai, 
in  company  with  several  assistants,  visited 
Mandelay,  and  spent  several  weeks  in  Christian 
labor  among  the  people.  While  last  in  Eng- 
land, Mrs.  Ingalls  obtained  a  Bible  with  the 
autograph  of  Queen  Victoria,  designed  for  the 
queen  of  Burmah.  She  was  permitted  to  visit 
the  palace  twice,  and  to .  converse  with  the 
queen  and  the  ladies  of  the  royal  household ; 
and  the  fact  that  she  had  been  favored  to  see 
"  the  golden  face  "  gave  her  more  effective  ac- 
cess to  the  people.  Church-members  this  year 
at  Thongzai,  183. 


22  MISSION  TO  RANGOON, 

In  1874  Rev.  W.  H.  Sloan  went  to  Rangoon 
as  assistant  superintendent  of  the  Press. 

In  1877  Dr.  Stevens  conducted  a  preachers' 
class  for  Burmese  young  men  for  five  months,  — 
a  kind  of  embryo  theological  seminary. 

Nov.  26,  1877,  Rev.  Dr.  Binney  died  on 
board  ship ;  and  his  body  was  committed  to  the 
Indian  Ocean  about  three  days'  sail  west  of 
Ceylon.  He  was  one  of  the  oldest  missionaries 
of  the  Union ;  arrived  for  the  first  time  in 
Maulmain  in  1844,  returned  to  this  country  in 
1850,  sailed  again  in  1858,  and  from  May,  1859, 
till  November,  1875,  gave  all  his  strength  to  the 
preparation  of  teachers  and  preachers  for  the 
Karens.  Partially  paralyzed,  he  returned  home 
in  1876;  but  the  next  year,  anxious  to  finish 
certain  works  which  he  had  begun,  he  em- 
barked again  for  Burmah  in  the  fall  of  1877. 
And  "he  was  not,  for  God  took  him." 

Mah  Menla,  the  first  female  convert  in  Bur- 
mah, was  baptized  by  torchlight  on  the  night  of 
July  18,  1820.  Now,  in  the  broad  light  of  day, 
they  are  baptized,  "  both  men  and  women,"  — 
"all  one  in  Christ." 

In  connection  with  the  Rangoon  mission 
there  are  at  present  21  missionaries,  male  and 
female,  '^^  native  preachers,  89  churches,  4,090 
members ;  and,  in  all  Burmah,  'j^  missionaries, 
430  native  preachers,  438  churches,  and  20,723 
members.  When  we  survey  this  broad  and  in- 
teresting field  of  Christian  effort,  recalling  and 
comparing  its  feeble  beginnings  and  its  present 
propitious  condition,  we  are  moved  to  exclaim, 
"  What  hath  God  wrought ! " 


No.  II. 

MISSION   TO   MAULMAIN. 

Amherst.  —  Death  of  Mrs.  Ann  H.  Judson.  —  Maulmain  as  a  Mission- 
ary Station.  —  "  This  Jesus  Christ's  Money."  —  The  Whole  Bible 
translated.  —  Missionary  Progress.  —  The  Press  in  Maulmain.  — 
Missionary  Efforts  of  Native  Converts.  —  The  Maulmain  Mission 
a  Success.  —  Further  Progress.  —  Death  of  Dr.  Judson.  —  The 
Maulmain  Convention.  —  Benefit  of  Schools.  —  Miss  Haswell's 
School.  —  Death  of  Dr.  Haswell.  —  Present  State. 

MAULMAIN  was  the  second  centre  of  the 
missions  in  Burmah.  After  the  Bur- 
mese war,  it  was  proposed  by  the  British  Gov- 
ernment and  East  India  Company  to  open  up 
a  new  military  station  and  capital  of  the  con- 
quered province  at  Amherst,  so  called  in  honor 
of  the  Governor-General  of  India.  And  with 
due  ceremony  the  new  post  was  inaugurated  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Salwen ;  Dr.  Judson  was  in- 
vited to  offer  prayer,  and  read  the  sixtieth  chap- 
ter of  Isaiah,  and  the  British  flag  was  flung  to 
the  breeze.  Thither  the  mission  was  removed 
from  Rangoon ;  and  here  that  incomparable 
woman,  Mrs.  Judson,  died  and  was  buried. 
Her  husband  was  away,  aiding  the  Government 
in  arranging  the  conditions  of  peace  between 
the   two   powers.     Surrounded   only   by  stran 

23 


24  MISSION  TO  MAUL  MA  IN, 

gers,  whom  she  charged  to  tell  the  teacher,  '*  so 
long  in  coming,"  all  that  happened,  she  lay 
with  her  head  resting  on  her  arm  for  many- 
hours,  then  uttered  a  momentary  cry  of  distress 
in  the  Burman  language,  and  departed,  Oct.  24, 
1826.  The  crown  was  ready,  and  she  hastened, 
at  the  early  age  of  thirty-seven,  to  put  it  on. 
The  good  fight  was  fought,  the  heroic  struggle 
ended ;  and  a  name  "  not  born  to  die "  was 
sealed  for  immortality.  After  a  few  months 
Amherst,  the  new  station,  was  found  to  be  in- 
eligible for  a  British  capital,  and  the  station 
was  removed  to  Maulmain.  But  Amherst  is 
forever  consecrated  in  the  estimation  of  the 
friends  of  missions  by  the  precious  dust  of  Ann 
H.  Judson. 

Maulmain  lies  a  hundred  miles  east  of  Ran- 
goon, and  is  on  the  river  Salwen,  a  broad 
stream,  at  this  point  a  mile  wide.  It  is  twenty- 
seven  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and 
opposite  to  it  is  Balu  Island.  The  scenery  is 
rendered  romantic  and  peculiar  by  hills,  rising 
abruptly  from  the  level  fields,  to  the  height  of 
four  or  five  hundred  feet,  the  base  being 
scarcely  larger  than  the  summit.  In  most 
parts,  trees  and  shrubs  cling  to  the  sides. 
Occasionally  are  seen  nearly  perpendicular 
rocks,  on  which  Buddhist  zeal  has  erected,  in 
almost  inaccessible  places,  many  white  pago- 
das. Sir  Archibald  Campbell  offered  the  mis- 
sion as  much  land  as  they  desired,  and  a  spot 
was  selected  about  a  mile  south  of  the  military 
cantonments.  A  bamboo  house  was  erected  at 
a  cost  of   about  one  hundred  and  seventy -five 


MAULMAIN  AS  A   MISSION  STATION.       25 

dollars,  and  the  work  of  the  mission  begun. 
The  station  was  commenced  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Boardman  in  April,  1827.  Mr.  Judson  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wade  joined  them  in  November  fol- 
lowing, with  a  number  of  native  converts  and 
eleven  female  scholars.  Public  worship  was 
commenced,  and  zayats  opened  at  several  points 
for  preaching,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  con- 
versation with  inquirers.  Two  native  assist- 
ants were  engaged  to  help  in  the  work.  A 
Divine  blessing  attended  the  enterprise ;  and 
between  January  and  September,  1828,  twenty- 
one  persons  were  baptized.  A  church  was  or- 
ganized, numbering  thirty  native  converts. 

The  place,  when  adopted  as  a  missionary 
station,  consisted  of  only  a  single  street,  stretch- 
ing along  the  river  for  two  and  a  half  miles, 
and  contained  from  eighteen  thousand  to  twenty 
thousand  inhabitants.  Most  of  the  native  pop- 
ulation removed  thither  from  Amherst,  thus 
rendering  it  a  more  fitting  place  for  missionary 
work.  Being  under  British  rule,  the  persecut- 
ing laws  of  the  Burman  empire  could  not  inter- 
fere with  the  native  Christians ;  and  the  history 
of  the  mission  for  fifty  years  has  shown  the 
wisdom  of  the  transfer. 

There  were,  from  a  very  early  period  in  the 
mission,  three  or  four  important  out-stations  in 
connection  with  it,  at  various  distances.  The 
most  interesting  of  these,  in  some  respects,  was 
Chummerah,  where  Dr.  Judson  resided  for  a 
season,  and  where  that  brave  woman.  Miss 
Cummings,  fixed  her  home  alone  among  the 
heathen,  to  live   and  labor  till  death  for  their 


26  MISSION  TO  MAULMAIN. 

conversion,  and  where  she  wore  the  armor,  at 
a  period  when  unmarried  females  shrank  from 
such  exposure,  till  she  exchanged  the  armor 
for  a  crown.  Another  of  these  out-stations 
was  Ko  Chetthingsville,  so  named  by  the  mis- 
sionaries for  the  pastor,  Ko  Chetthing,  who  la- 
bored here,  valiant  for  the  truth.  In  1837  he 
had  a  native  church  of  sixty  members.  This 
man,  it  will  be  remembered  by  many,  visited  the 
United  States  in  1832,  in  company  with  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wade  and  a  Burman  disciple.  This 
was  -the  man  of  whom  this  interesting  item 
is  worthy  to  be  recorded.  When  he  was  in 
America,  small  sums  of  money  were  given  him 
by  various  individuals,  as  tokens  of  friendship 
and  memorials  of  Christian  love.  At  a  fare- 
well meeting  in  Boston,  just  previous  to  his 
return  to  Burmah,  being  called  upon  to  speak, 
he  said  to  the  congregation  in  his  broken  Eng- 
lish, as  he  held  up  the  little  bag  of  silver  above 
his  head,  "This  no  me  money,  this  Jesus 
Christ's  money,"  —  ''This  no  me  money,  this 
Jesus  Christ's  money"  —  repeating  the  sen- 
tence, as  if  to  intensify  the  dedication  of  it, 
and  proceeding  thence  to  urge  upon  Christians 
the  duty  of  holding  all  for  Christ.  As  he  made 
this  munificent  offering  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  con- 
secrating to  his  service  the  whole  amount  which 
had  been  contributed  for  his  own  private  use, 
there  were  few  dry  eyes  in  that  vast  assembly, 
and  the  thought  went  up  from  many  a  heart, 
*'  Oh  that  the  Christians  of  happy  America  had 
learned  so  effectually  the  lesson  of  devoting 
all  to  Christ !  "     It  seems  that  after  his  return 


THE    WHOLE  BIBLE   TRANSLATED.        27 

to  Burmah  he  actually  gave  the  whole  sum  to 
defray  the  expense  of  building  a  little  school- 
house,  where  his  wife  set  herself  to  teaching 
the  children  of  idolaters  the  way  to  heaven. 

It  was  in  Maulmain  that  Dr.  Judson  com- 
pleted the  revision  of  the  New  Testament  in 
Burman,  after  a  year's  laborious  and  careful 
work,  in  1828  ;  and  here,  too,  he  finished  trans- 
lating the  whole  Bible  into  the  language  of  the 
people,  in  1834.  The  moral  heroism  of  the  man 
who  ventured  to  undertake,  and  succeeded  in 
achieving,  such  a  task,  is  grand  beyond  expres- 
sion. What  King  James's  forty-seven  trans- 
lators did,  he  performed  alone,  taking  the  grave 
responsibility  of  determining  the  meaning  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  every  word  of  Holy  Writ, 
and  presenting  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  as  he 
understood  it,  in  every  passage ;  settling,  alone, 
questions  of  natural  science,  philology,  lan- 
guage, interpretation,  theology,  in  succession, 
and  expressing  the  meaning  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  a  language  not  his  own,  and,  owing  to  its 
heathen  associations,  ill  adapted  to  the  pure 
utterances  of  a  Christian  theology ;  making 
himself,  as  it  were,  the  internuncius  between 
God  and  the  people  of  the  Burman  race  for  all 
time  to  come.  It  is  no  wonder  that  with  inex- 
pressible gratitude  he  took  the  last  leaf  of  the 
completed  Bible,  and  on  his  knees  presented  it, 
a  sublime  offering,  to  its  great  Author.  If  the 
one  pen  with  which  Cotton  Mather  says  John 
Eliot  wrote  out  the  whole  translation  of  his 
Indian  Bible  was  a  most  precious  relic,  is  not 
also  the  table  on  which  Dr.  Judson  wrote  his 


28  MISSION  TO  MAUL  AM  IN 

translation,  and  which  is  now  preserved  in  the 
rooms  of  the  Bible  Society  in  New  York  ? 

Under  date  of  Maulmain,  Jan.  31,  1834,  Dr. 
Judson  wrote  as  follows  :  — 

"  Thanks  be  to  God,  I  can  now  say,  I  have  attained.  I 
have  knelt  before  him  with  the  last  leaf  in  my  hand,  and, 
imploring  his  forgiveness  for  all  the  sins  which  have  pol- 
luted my  labors  in  this  department,  and  his  aid  in  future 
efforts  to  remove  the  errors  and  imperfections  which  ne- 
cessarily cleave  to  the  work,  I  have  commended  it  to  his 
mercy  and  grace  ;  I  have  dedicated  it  to  his  glory.  May 
he  make  his  own  inspired  word,  now  complete  in  the  Bur- 
man  tongue,  the  grand  instrument  of  filling  all  Burmah 
with  songs  of  praise  to  our  great  God  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ !     Amen." 

In  the  notable  year  when  this  record  was 
made,  the  whole  number  of  baptized  converts 
in  Burmah  was  five  hundred  and  ninety-two, 
and  more  than  half  this  number  in  connection 
with  the  mission  in  Maulmain.  This  year, 
seventy-six  were  baptized  in  all  Burmah,  and 
forty-four  of  them  in  Maulmain. 

Under  date  of  Aug.  3,  18 16,  Dr.  Judson  had 
written  to  Mr.  Rice  as  above  quoted  :  — 

"  If  they  [American  Christians]  are  unwilling  to  risk 
their  bread  on  such  a  forlorn  .hope  as  has  nothing  but  the 
word  of  God  to  sustain  it,  beg  of  them,  at  least,  not  to 
prevent  others  from  giving  us  bread ;  and,  if  we  live  twen- 
ty or  thirty  years,  they  may  hear  from  us  again." 

The  twenty  years  had  not  yet  expired,  and 
this  body  of  converts  attests  the  power  and 
grace  of  the  gospel  of  God.  If  we  omit  the 
years  of  the  war,  when  nothing  was  effected  in 
the  wg.y  of   mission-work,  and   say  nothing  of 


THE  PRESS  IN  MAULMAIN.  29 

those  who  died,  from  the  beginning  of  the  mis- 
sion, in  holy  peace,  there  remains  a  record  of 
forty  every  year,  on  an  average,  born  unto  God. 
How  much,  from  how  Uttle  ! 

It  was  in  1830 'that  the  Mission  Press  at 
Maulmain  commenced  operations.  And  here, 
for  many  years,  a  great  work  was  carried  on  in 
printing  the  Scriptures,  tracts,  and  school-books, 
for  the  use  of  the  mission.  Mr.  Bennett  took 
with  him  to  this  station  the  first  press  sent  from 
the  United  States.  A  second  followed  in  1832, 
the  gift  of  the  Oliver-street  Baptist  Church, 
New  York ;  and  towards  the  close  of  the  same 
year,  two  others,  one  presented  by  the  Rev. 
Ebenezcr  Loomis  of  New-York  City,  the  other 
by  Jonathan  Carleton  of  Boston.  In  1862 
Rangoon,  then  and  since  the  most  commanding 
social  and  commercial  position  in  Burmah,  was 
selected  as  the  most  eligible  point  for  this  de- 
partment ;  and  to  this  place  all  the  printing 
operations  of  the  mission  were  transferred.  As 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  is  forever  celebrated  as  the 
place  where  Eliot's  Indian  Bible  was  printed,  so 
Maulmain  has  acquired  imperishable  renown  as 
the  spot  where  Judson's  Burman  Bible  was 
printed,  and  given  to  a  new  nation  of  idolaters. 

In  1836  there  were  five  or  six  native  preach- 
ers in  Maulmain ;  and  through  the  zeal  and 
energy  of  that  wise  and  good  missionary,  Mr. 
Osgood,  in  that  year  one  hundred  and  seventeen 
thousand  tracts  and  portions  of  Scripture  were 
printed  and  put  in  circulation,  —  the  aim  being 
to  place  a  copy  in  every  family  in  the  place 
which  would  accept  one ;  and  for  this  purpose 


30  MISSION  TO  MAULMAIN. 

the  whole  city  was  traversed  twice,  and  part  of 
it  a  third  time. 

It  was  three  years  earlier,  in  1833,  that  the 
Christians  of  Maulmain,  like  the  woman  of 
Samaria,  began  to  be  anxious  to  send  the  glad 
tidings  of  the  gospel  to  others  who  sat  in  dark- 
ness, and  formed  a  Missionary  Society,  designed 
to  support  a  missionary  in  Ava.  Still  earlier, 
at  Amherst,  Moung  Ing,  a  native  preacher,  self- 
moved,  or  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  had  pro- 
posed of  his  own  accord  to  commence  a  mission 
to  Tavoy  and  Mergui.  Dr.  Judson  hailed  the 
omen  with  joy.  Christianity,  in  this  subject, 
brought  forth  its  legitimate  fruit.  Moung  Ing 
was  immediately  ordained  and  sent  forth,  that 
he  might  "  make  known  among  the  heathen  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ."  This  was  the 
grain  of  mustard-seed,  from  which  sprang  the 
work  among  the  Karens  of  Tavoy,  —  initiated 
by  the  suggestion  of  Moung  Ing,  prompted 
by  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  heathen  converted 
through  the  planning  of  one  once  a  heathen 
himself  ;  grandly  brought  out  into  prominence 
in  the  baptismal  scene  near  Tavoy,  which  Board- 
man  witnessed  from  his  dying  couch,  and  then 
ascended  to  his  crown  ;  and  since  carried  for- 
ward to  a  strength,  stability,  and  extent  which 
has  filled  Christendom  with  wonder  and  grati- 
tude, and  heaven  with  praise. 

The  seal  of  Divine  approval  has  evidently 
rested  on  the  mission  at  Maulmain  from  the 
beginning.  In  1829  twenty-five  native  believ- 
ers, and  ten  English  soldiers  connected  with 
the  British  army,  were  added  to  the  church  by 


EFFORTS  OF  NATIVE   CONVERTS.  31 

baptism.  Up  to  the  close  of  1830,  fifty-six  na- 
tive Christians  had  been  baptized.  In  183 1  a 
new  EngHsh  chapel  was  built  at  the  expense  of 
British  soldiers,  and  a  revival  of  religion  fol- 
lowed. In  1833  forty-four  were  baptized,  of 
whom  two,  English  soldiers,  were  brought  to 
Christ  as  a  result  of  impressions  received 
through  the  reading  of  the  Memoir  of  Mrs. 
Judson.  As  a  rose  distils  fragrance  after  its 
decay,  so  the  life  of  that  loving  and  holy  woman, 
even  after  her  death,  continued  and  continues  to 
be  a  benediction.  Up  to  the  close  of  the  year 
1834,  seven  hundred  and  ninety-one  of  Burmah's 
dark  idolaters  had  put  on  Christ  by  an  open  pro- 
fession, and  were  walking  in  newness  of  life. 

In  1836  four  presses  and  a  power-press  were 
at  work  in  Maulmain,  producing  religious  read- 
ing ;  and  still  additional  presses  were  forwarded 
in  1837.  Mr.  Osgood  had  a  Sabbath  school, 
numbering  from  forty  to  sixty  pupils.  In  1837 
the  Burman  boarding-school  was  re-organized, 
under  the  care  of  Mr.  Howard.  In  1838  the 
first  books  were  prepared  for  the  Pwo  Karens. 
The  same  year  the  Karen  Christians  at  Maul- 
main began  to  make  regular  contributions  for 
missions,  commencing  with  a  collection  of 
thirty-five  dollars.  In  1839  there  were  eight 
preaching-places  in  and  around  Maulmain,  and 
audiences  which  numbered  two  hundred  and 
eighty. 

In  1842  the  Maulmain  Burman  Missionary 
Society  supported  ten  assistants,  who  went 
everywhere  among  their  countrymen,  carrying 
the  word  of  life.     In  1844  the  Rev.  Dr.  Binney, 


32  MISSION  TO  MAULMAIN, 

who  had  filled  important  posts  of  honor  and 
influence  in  this  country,  arrived  in  Maulmain, 
and  re-opened  the  Theological  Seminary,  which 
had  been  previously  organized,  but  suspended 
operations.  Now,  by  the  grace  of  God,  there 
were  six  Burman  students  and  twenty-five  Ka- 
rens, all  looking  forward  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Word.  The  institution  there  begun,  but  since 
removed  to  Rangoon,  of  which  Dr.  Binney  was 
for  many  years  the  beloved  and  honored  head, 
during  all  its  blessed  career  has  sent  forth,  year 
by  year,  from  that  day  to  this,  its  annual  instal- 
ment of  Christ's  ascension-gifts,  "  some  apostles, 
some  prophets,  some  evangelists,  some  pastors 
and  teachers." 

In  August,  1847,  from  the  press  at  Maulmain 
issued  the  complete  Peguan  New  Testament  by 
Dr.  Haswcll  and  his  assistants,  and  portions  of 
the  New  Testament  in  Two  Karen. 

In  1850  Dr.  Judson  suspended  his  work  at 
Maulmain,  enfeebled  in  health,  and  sought  to 
invigorate  his  constitution,  wasted  prematurely 
by  hardship,  toil,  and  self-denial,  by  a  voyage  at 
sea.  But  he  returned  no  more.  "  He  was  not, 
for  God  took  him."  He  died  April  12,  1850, 
on  the  passage  from  Maulmain  to  the  Isle  of 
France,  and  was  buried  in  the  ocean. 

Thus  ended  thirty-seven  years  of  labor  for 
Christ.  We  are  prompted  here  to  look  back  to 
"that  country  inn,  where  all  night  the  powers 
of  light  and  darkness  struggled  for  the  direction 
of  his  soul ;  then,  looking  at  Burmah  to-day 
with  its  translated  Bible,  its  more  than  three 
hundred   churches,  its  twenty  thousand  Chris- 


FURTHER  PROGRESS.  33 

tians,  its  ripened  fruit  gathered  into  the  heav- 
enly garner,  and  then  thinking  what  would  have 
been  the  result  of  that  life  if  the  decision  of 
that  night  had  been  for  infidelity,  we  tremble, 
and  thank  God." 

In  1852  the  Burmese  and  English  JDiction- 
ary,  in  four  hundred  and  nine  pages  quarto,  was 
issued  at  Maulmain  ;  and  the  year  following  was 
held  at  Maulmain  "the  Maulmain  Convention," 
at  which  were  gathered  all  the  missionaries  in 
Burmah,  save  three,  and  also  Dr.  Dean  from 
China,  and  Dr.  Brown  from  Assam.  And  here 
for  six  weeks  they  prayed,  and  debated,  and 
communed  together  on  the  methods  of  mission- 
ary work,  —  a  rare  assembly  of  Christian  breth- 
ren, engaged  in  one  service,  aiming  at  one  end, 
moved  by  one  Spirit,  commissioned  by  one 
Head. 

The  spirit  of  persecution  in  Burmah  had  not 
wholly  died  out.  In  1850  there  were  several 
Christian  Karens  holding  minor  offices  under 
the  Burman  government,  who  were  driven  from 
their  places  because  they  were  Christians.  The 
same  year  the  good  Chetthing  was  imprisoned 
for  ten  months  because  he  was  a  servant  of  the 
living  God.  "  But  the  word  of  God  is  not 
bound."  The  work  went  forward,  goes  for- 
ward. It  has  taken  root.  In  1855  it  was  re- 
ported that  the  Burman  church  in  Maulmain 
had  become  substantially  self-supporting. 

A  circumstance  is  related  in  the  correspond- 
ence of  1866,  showing  the  value  of  teaching  in 
missionary  schools.  A  stranger  came  into  the 
chapel  one  day,  and  seemed  to  join  heartily  in 


34  MISSION  TO  MAUL  MAIN. 

the  worship.  On  inquiry,  it  was  found  that 
when  a  boy  he  had  attended  one  of  the  station- 
schools.  He  had  grown  up,  and  been  married, 
and  lost  his  wife  ;  but  he  had  never  worshipped 
idols  since  he  attended  the  school ;  and  now  he 
had  come,  desiring  to  be  baptized.  He  appeared 
to  be  a  sincere  believer  in  Christ. 

In  1868  Dr.  Haswell  and  his  wife,  on  account 
of  his  failing  health,  were  obliged  to  return  to 
the  United  States.  His  absence  from  Burmah 
was  a  calamity  to  the  mission  ;  but  as  he  stood 
up  before  immense  congregations  to  plead  for 
the  heathen,  with  his  poor,  palsied  arm  trem- 
bling uncontrollably  and  hopelessly,  the  seal  of 
his  over-work  and  over-weariness  for  the  souls 
of  his  fellow-men,  many  a  tearful  eye  and  throb- 
bing heart  indicated  that  Christians  in  America 
were  learning,  through  him,  lessons  of  self-denial 
and  sacrifice  for  a  perishing  world.  Who  that 
saw  him  stand  up  before  those  great  assem- 
blies, after  having  labored  in  his  work  till  his 
palsied  arm  refused  to  obey  his  will,  and  his 
enervated  frame  had  become  too  weak  to  bear 
the  activity  of  the  burning  soul,  its  inhabitant, 
but  was  thrilled  with  his  speech,  and  reminded 
of  Christ's  words,  ''  The  zeal  of  thine  house 
hath  eaten  me  up "  }  If  he  is  suchj  with  his 
feebleness,  what  ought  we  to  be }  And  at  last 
Maulmain  became  to  him,  as  it  had  before  to 
many  others,  a  gateway  into  heaven.  His  last 
work  and  his  farewell  words  have  been  en- 
shrined in  the  annual  circular  to  the  churches 
of  the  Maulmain  Association,  under  the  title, 
**An  Address  to  Christrans,"  urging  upon  the 


DEATH  OF  DR.  HAS  WELL.  35 

native  disciples  the  duty  of  proclaiming  the  gos- 
pel by  word  and  life  to  their  heathen  country- 
men. 

Miss  S.  E.  Haswell's  school  for  girls  in  Maul- 
main  was  commenced  in  November,  1867,  with 
ten  pupils,  the  course  of  study  being  planned 
for  three  years.  Within  a  few  months  five  of 
the  first  pupils  were  hopefully  converted.  In 
1869  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haswell  returned  to  Bur- 
mah.     Mr.  S.  B.  Rand  also  joined  the  mission. 

In  1872  Miss  Haswell's  school  entered  the 
new  and  commodious  brick  building  erected  for 
the  purpose  by  the  Woman's  Baptist  Missionary 
Society,  at  an  expense  of  seventy-five  hundred 
dollars.  The  number  of  pupils  was  one  hun- 
dred and  three. 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Haswell  died  Sept.  13,  1876, 
after  thirty-six  years  of  active  missionary  ser- 
vice. During  the  earlier  part  of  his  course,  he 
devoted  himself  to  labor  for  the  Peguans  or 
Talaings,  and  translated  the  New  Testament 
into  their  language  ;  and  the  last  work  performed 
by  his  trembling  hand  was  the  revision  and 
preparation  of  tracts  in  the  Peguan  dialect.  He 
was  industrious  and  able  ;  and  few  knew  better 
than  he  the  languages  he  employed,  and  the 
people  among  whom  his  lot  was  cast. 

An  English  Baptist  church  was  established  at 
Maulmain  as  well  as  at  Rangoon,  where  many 
soldiers  of  the  British  regiments  found  Christian 
watch-care.  In  seven  years  the  native  people 
raised  over  five  thousand  dollars  in  gold,  for  the 
support  of  the  gospel  and  mission-schools,  and 
over  a  hundred  and  fifty  converts  were  baptized. 


36  MISSION  TO  MAUL  MA  IN. 

The  mission  at  Maulmain,'  Burman  and  Ka- 
ren, has  proceeded  from  year  to  year  with  in- 
creasing momentum,  with  fresh  laborers  and 
fresh  appliances.  We  have  not  space  to  follow 
it  in  all  its  details.  Rangoon  has  returned,  in 
some  sense,  to  its  early  position  of  superiority 
and  importance  in  the  missionary  field.  There 
is  the  Mission  Press.  There  is  the  Karen 
Theological  Seminary.  There  are  more  than 
twenty  missionaries,  male  and  female.  And  at 
Maulmain  also  are  i6  missionaries,  male  and 
female,  i8  churches,  1,135  members,  23  native 
preachers,  20  schools,  and  780  pupils.  Miss 
Haswell  has  a  most  successful  institution,  with 
all  the  modern  improvements,  and,  best  of  all, 
from  time  to  time  the  evident  presence  of  the 
converting  grace  of  God.  In  1876  nineteen 
pupils  from  the  boarding-school  were  baptized, 
and  others  gave  evidence  of  genuine  conversion. 
The  conversions  in  the  school  have  been  distin- 
guished by  strongly  marked  experiences.  Es- 
pecially in  the  case  of  older  pupils,  there  has 
been  deep  conviction  and  distress  for  sin,  and 
corresponding  joy  and  peace  when  brought  to 
believe  in  the  Saviour.  Such  spiritual  exercises 
have  been  rarely  manifested  by  native  converts, 
and  this  is  doubtless  one  result  of  the  education 
and  development  of  their  characters  in  the 
school. 

The  review  of  the  progress  and  results  of  the 
work  at  this  second  centre  of  the  Burman  mis- 
sion is  suited  to  fill  the  Christian  heart  with 
gratitude  and  glad  surprise.  From  so  feeble  be- 
ginnings, what  fruits  have  been  reaped  !     From 


PRESENT  STATE. 


37 


so  scant  a  sowing,  what  abundant  harvests ! 
The  stability  of  the  work  is  doubtless  insured 
for  all  coming  time.  He  that  hath  begun  will 
finish.  Should  the  missionaries  leave  the  field, 
after  all  these  manifestations  of  the  Spirit  in 
converted  souls,  in  a  translated  Bible  and  reli- 
gious books,  with  scholars,  and  teachers,  and 
apparatus,  and  native  preachers,  the  work  would 
still  live  and  thrive,  as  it  did  in  Madagascar 
during  the  years  of  persecution,  while  not  a 
missionary  was  on  the  field.  What  hath  God 
wrought!  And,  if  such  is  the  earnest,  what 
will  the  complete  fruition  be } 


No.   III. 

MISSION   TO   TAVOY. 

Origin  of  the  Tavoy  Station.  —  Description  of  Tavoy.  —  Early  Labors. 

'  —  The  Karen  People.  —  The  Mysterious  Deposit.  —  Ko  Thahbyu, 
the  First  Convert,  Baptized.  —  An  Interested  Assembly.  —  Ko 
Thahbyu's  Missionary  Spirit.  —  Aged  Converts.  —  A  Touching 
Scene.  —  Historical  Notes.  —  Later  Condition.  —  Tavoy  Mission 
Re-opened.  —  Death  of  Mrs.  Wade. 

THE  commencement  of  the  mission  station 
in  Tavoy  is  due,  primarily,  to  the  sugges- 
tion of  a  Burman  convert,  Moung  Ing.  At  one 
of  the  stated  evening  meetings  in  Maulmain,  at 
the  very  beginning  of  the  year  1827,  as  Dr.  Jud- 
son  relates,  Moung  Ing  voluntarily  expressed  his 
desire  to  undertake  a  missionary  excursion  to 
Tavoy  and  Mergui ;  and,  in  accordance  with  his 
request,  he  was  subsequently  set  apart  to  the 
work,  and  embarked  for  Tavoy  in  a  native  boat. 
Of  his  labors  in  Tavoy  we  have  no  definite  ac- 
count. But  when  we  contemplate  the  connec- 
tion of  that  suggestion  of  the  Burman  convert 
with  the  great  work  among  the  Karen  people, 
which  began,  substantially,  at  Tavoy,  we  cannot 
fail  to  admire  the  wonderful  workings  of  Divine 
grace.  We  hail  this  event  —  having  its  incep- 
tion in  the  mind  of  a  native  convert  —  as  pro- 
38 


DESCRIPTION  OF  TAVOY.  39 

phetic  of  the  arrangement  which,  we  believe,  is 
to  be  consummated  in  the  future, — that  the 
heathen  are  to  be  converted  mainly  through  the 
Divine  blessing  on  the  labors  of  their  own  coun- 
trymen. 

The  station  at  Tavoy  was  commenced  as  a 
third  missionary  centre  in  Burmah,  —  Rangoon 
and  Maulmain  being  the  first  and  second, — by 
the  Rev.  George  Dana  Boardman,  who  arrived 
there  from  Ma.ulmain,  April  9,  1828.  Tavoy  was 
the  capital  of  the  province  of  the  same  name, 
an  old  Burman  walled  town  on  the  Tavoy  River, 
thirty-five  miles  from  the  sea.  Large  vessels 
ascend  the  river  as  far  as  a  point  twenty-one 
miles  lower  down.  Tavoy  is  nearly  two  hun- 
dred miles  from  Maulmain,  and  stands  on  a 
plain.  The  population,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  mission,  was  about  six  thousand,  of  whom 
two-thirds  were  Burmans.  It  is  a  part  of  Brit- 
ish Burmah,  and  a  stronghold  of  idolatry.  It  is 
said  to  contain  a  thousand  pagodas,  and  two 
hundred  monasteries  of  Buddhist  priests.  The 
largest  of  these  pagodas  is  a  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  in  height.  The  hilltops  and  eminences  in 
all  the  surrounding  country  are  crowned  with 
these  emblems  of  idolatry.  Every  object  which 
the  eye  rests  upon  is  fitted  to  remind  the  ob- 
server that  here  Satan's  seat  is. 

On  his  arrival  in  Tavoy,  Mr.  Boardman  was 
kindly  received  by  Major  Burney,  the  Civil 
Commissioner ;  and  in  ten  days  afterwards  he 
had  commenced  housekeeping  in  the  city,  and 
begun  to  receive  visits  from  the  inhabitants. 
Early  in  July  a  zayat  was  completed,  and  the 


40  MISSION  TO   TAVOY. 

first  steps  were  taken  towards  a  vigorous  as- 
sault upon  the  powers  of  darkness.  And  here 
and  thus  this  herald  of  the  cross  stood,  single- 
handed,  before  the  mighty  array  of  error  and  su- 
perstition which  had  been  accumulating  strength 
for  ages.  Gazing  upon  the  strange  magnificence 
of  the  shrines  of  idolatry  which  appeared  on 
every  side  around  him,  he  began  his  work,  as- 
sured that,  in  due  time,  the  empty  adoration  of 
Gaudama  would  give  place  to  the  worship  of  the 
true  and  living  God. 

Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  priests, 
the  labors  of  Mr.  Boardman  secured  the  atten- 
tion and  excited  the  interest  of  the  people. 
Many  came  daily  to  listen  to  his  words,  and  to 
tell  of  their  craving  for  a  more  satisfactory  faith 
than  they  found  in  Buddhism.  Two  persons 
very  soon  avowed  their  adoption  of  Christianity, 
and,  during  the  first  year  of  Mr.  Boardman's 
residence  in  Tavoy,  were  baptized,  and  consti- 
tuted the  germ  of  a  new  Christian  church,  —  the 
beginning  of  results  of  such  unspeakable  mag- 
nitude. 

When  Mr.  Boardman  removed  from  Maul- 
main  to  Tavoy,  he  was  accompanied  thither  by 
a  man  of  middle  age,  formerly  a  slave,  but 
whose  emancipation  had  been  procured  by  the 
missionaries.  When  this  man  left  Maulmain, 
he  was  already  a  convert  to  Christianity,  and 
was  baptized  soon  after  he  came  to  Tavoy.  He 
was  a  Karen.  His  name  was  Ko  Thahbyu ; 
and  afterwards,  for  many  years,  he  preached  the 
gospel  with  remarkable  zeal  and  success  to  his 
own  people.     His  conversion  and  baptism  drew 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  DEPOSIT.  41 

the  attention  of  the  missionaries  to  the  race  tc 
which  he  belonged,  and  led  to  the  founding  oi 
the  mission  to  the  Karens,  which,  in  point  of 
interest  and  success,  has  been  scarcely  equalled 
by  any  other  mission  of  modern  times,  —  cer- 
tainly by  none,  if  we  except  the  Kohls  of  India, 
and  the  Teloogoos  of  Ongole.  The  Karens  are 
the  mountain-tribes  of  Burmah,  and  are  regarded 
by  the  Burmans  as  an  inferior  race.  As  they 
were  first  known  to  the  missionaries,  they  were 
without  any  form  of  religion  or  priesthood,  or. 
any  superstitious  rites  ;  but  lately  Buddhism  has 
been  making  many  conquests  among  them. 
They  believed  in  the  existence  of  one  God,  and 
in  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments. 
They  had  many  traditions  strikingly  similar  to 
the  truths  of  the  Bible,  and  prophecies  pointing 
to  the  future  elevation  of  their  people  through 
the  agency  of  white  foreigners  from  beyond  the 
seas,  who  should  come  and  teach  them  the  word 
of  God.  At  an  early  period  of  his  residence 
among  them.  Dr.  Mason  was  of  opinion  that 
many  things  in  their  character  and  traditions 
pointed  them  out  as  the  lost  ten  tribes  of  Israel. 
The  peculiar  interest  awakened  in  regard  to 
the  Karens  was  intensified  by  a  singular  ac- 
count, related  by  Mr.  Boardman,  in  relation  to  a 
book  which  had  been  left  in  one  of  their  villages 
twelve  years  before  by  a  traveller,  who  informed 
them  that  it  was  sacred,  and  enjoined  upon  them 
to  worship  it.  It  was  delivered  to  one  of  the 
people,  —  a  man  who,  though  ignorant  of  its 
contents,  carefully  wrapped  it  in  muslin,  and 
enclosed  it  in  a  basket  made. of  reeds,  covered 


42  MISSION  TO    TAVOY. 

over  with  pitch.  It  was  henceforth  a  deified 
book,  and  an  object  of  veneration.  The  keeper 
of  it  became  a  kind  of  sorcerer ;  "  and  he  and 
all  the  people  of  his  village  firmly  believed  that 
a  teacher  would  at  length  come,  and  explain  the 
contents  of  the  mysterious  volume." 

Mr.  Boardman's  account  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  When  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Boardman  was  reported  in 
the  village,  the  guardian  of  the  deified  book  came  with 
a  chief  of  the  tribe  to  the  mission-house,  to  obtain  his 
opinion  respecting  its  character.  The  missionary,  after 
hearing  their  story,  and  speaking  to  them  of  the  nature 
of  Christianity,  proposed  that  they  should  return  to  their 
village,  and  bring  him  the  book,  that  he  might  judge  of 
its  contents.  Accordingly,  after  several  days,  the  sor- 
cerer returned,  attended  by  a  numerous  train,  and  bring- 
ing with  him  the  venerated  volume. 

"  All  seemed  to  anticipate  Mr.  Boardman's  opinion  as 
decisive  of  its  character,  and  were  wrought  to  a  high 
pitch  of  excitement  in  the  expectation  of  its  announce- 
ment. The  sorcerer,  at  his  request,  stood  before  him, 
with  the  basket  containing  the  mysterious  treasure  at  his 
feet.  He  carefully  unrolled  the  muslin,  and  took  from 
its  folds  '  an  old,  tattered,  worn-out  volume,'  which,  creep- 
ing forward,  he  reverently  presented  to  the  missionary. 
It  proved  to  be  the  'Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  the 
Psalms,'  of  an  edition  printed  in  Oxford.  '  It  is  a  good 
Book,'  said  Mr.  Boardman:  'it  teaches  that  there  is  a 
God  in  heaven,  whom  alone  we  should  worship.  You 
have  been  ignorantly  worshipping  this  book.  That  is  not 
good.  I  will  teach  you  to  worship  the  God  whom  the 
book  reveals.' 

"  Every  Karen  countenance  was  alternately  lighted 
up  with  smiles  of  joy,  and  cast  down  with  inward  convic- 
tions of  having  erred  in  worshipping  a  book  instead  of 
the  God  whom  it  reveals.  I  took  the  Book  of  Psalms  in 
Burman,  and  read  such  passages  as  seemed  appropriate, 
and,  having  given  a  brief  and  easy  explanation,  engaged 
in  prayer.  They  staid  two  days,  and  manifested  consid- 
erable interest  in  the  instructions  given  them. 


KO   THAHBYU.  43 

"  The  aged  sorcerer,  on  hearing  Mr.  Boardman's  de- 
cision respecting  the  book,  seemed  readily  to  perceive 
that  his  office  was  at  an  end ;  and,  at  the  suggestion  of 
one  of  the  native  Christians,  he  disrobed  himself  of  the 
fantastical  dress  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  wear, 
and  gave  up  the  heavy  cudgel  or  wand,  which  for  twelve 
years  he  had  borne  as  the  badge  of  his  spiritual  author- 
ity." 

Ko  Thahbyu,  the  first  Karen  convert,  who 
accompanied  Mr.  Boardman  from  Maulmain, 
forms  a  conspicuous  element  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  Tavoy  Mission.  He  had  been  ac- 
cepted as  a  candidate  for  baptism  at  Maulmain ; 
and  in  August,  1828,  the  first  baptism  occurred 
in  Tavoy, — the  subjects  being  a  Chinese,  a 
Burman,  and  this  Karen,  Ko  Thahbyu.  Two 
months  later,  in  October,  the  church  in  Tavoy 
numbered  six  members. 

The  spirit  of  Ko  Thahbyu  was  eminently  a 
missionary  spirit.  His  inclination  led  him,  as 
a  pioneer,  to  push  out  continually  into  the 
regions  beyond.  It  was  thus  that  he  carried 
the  gospel  from  village  to  village  with  a  never- 
tiring  ardor,  the  Lord  working  with  him  ;  and 
almost  from  the  commencement  of  the  mission, 
converts  began  to  come  in  from  places  two  or 
three  days'  journey  distant.  The  three  Karen 
villagers  from  the  village  where  the  mysterious 
book  was  kept  were  present  at  the  first  bap- 
tism, and  engaged  Ko  Thahbyu  to  return  with 
them  to  their  home,  and  make  known  to  their 
people  the  way  of  life.  They  promised  also  to 
erect  a  large  zayat,  and  to  invite  the  Karens 
from  all  quarters  to  come  together  to  hear  the 
words  of  truth  from  the  foreign  teacher. 


44  MISSION  TO   TAVOY, 

Very  interesting  is  the  account  of  Mr.  Board- 
man's  first  missionary  tour  to  the  Karen  vil- 
lages around  Tavoy.  It  was  in  February,  1829. 
The  course  was  east  from  Tavoy,  and  the  re- 
motest point  was  the  residence  of  a  convert 
already  baptized.  A  zayat  was  found,  erected 
for  his  accommodation,  and  large  enough  to 
hold  the  whole  village  of  sixty  or  seventy  per- 
sons. The  people  brought  presents  of  every 
thing  which  their  village  could  furnish.  Their 
faces  beamed  with  joy  as  they  said,  "Ah,  you 
have  come  at  last !  We  have  long  been  wish- 
ing to  see  you."  They  listened  attentively  to 
the  gospel ;  and  many  of  them  remained  in  the 
zayat  all  day  and  all  night,  to  hear  of  the  love 
of  God,  and  the  way  for  a  sinner  to  be  saved. 
Ko  Thahbyu,  who  understood  Burman,  inter- 
preted into  Karen,  so  that  the  women  and 
children  also  heard  in  their  own  tongue  the 
wonderful  works  of  God.  Early  in  the  morn- 
ing about  fifty  more  heathen  people  came, 
bringing  presents ;  and  Ko  Thahbyu,  as  before, 
interpreted  in  Karen.  Mr.  Boardman,  fatigued 
with  the  labors  of  the  Sabbath  (for  he  had 
preached  in  the  early  morning  and  again  at 
noon),  at  evening  was  preparing  for  rest.  But 
just  then  five  persons  came  forward,  and  de- 
clared their  faith  in  Christ,  and  their  desire  to 
be  baptized.  One  of  the  number  was  the  old 
sorcerer,  the  custodian  of  the  mysterious  book. 
After  a  night's  consideration,  it  was  determined 
to  defer  the  ordinance.  But  the  interest  of 
the  people  seemed  unabated.  And  nearly  half 
the    congregation    remained   in   the   zayat   all 


KO   THAHBYU'S  MISSIONARY  SPIRIT,     45 

night,  that  they  might  take  leave  of.  the  mis- 
sionary in  the  morning. 

Shortly  afterwards  Ko  Thahbyu  undertook  a 
missionary  tour  of  several  weeks.  Mr.  Board- 
man  remarked  of  him  that  he  was  naturally 
weak,  and  not  remarkable  for  intellectual  en- 
dowment or  human  learning,  but  constantly 
devising  plans  for  doing  good.  He  said  one 
day,  "  There  are  the  districts  of  Pai  and  Palan, 
and  several  other  places  near  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  where  there  are  many  Karen  settlements 
which  I  wish  to  visit.  There  are  also  many 
Karens  in  the  province  of  Mergui.  I  wish  to 
declare  the  gospel  to  them  all.  And  before 
long  I  want  to  go  across,  and  visit  the  Karens 
in  Siam,  and  afterwards  to  visit  Bassein,  my 
native  place,  near  Rangoon.  Many  Karens 
live  there." 

Perhaps  herein  we  find  a  germ  of  the  won- 
derful work  of  grace  in  the  district  of  Bassein, 
now  numboring  more  than  seven  thousand  one 
hundred  church-members, — a  native  Christian 
again,  under  God,  the  incipient  human  cause  of 
a  wide  work  of  almighty  power ;  an  apostle  of 
salvation  raised  up  from  among  the  heathen,  to 
bring  deliverance  to  his  own  land  and  people. 

On  account  of  a  brief  revolt  of  the  people  of 
Tavoy  from  their  British  masters,  Mr.  Board- 
man  retired  for  a  season  in  1829  to  Maulmain. 
On  his  return  many  of  the  people  hastened 
from  their  jungles  to  present  their  congratula- 
tions ;  and  three  of  them,  in  advanced  life, 
came  for  the  purpose  of  asking  baptism.  After 
describing  the  baptism,  —  a  season  of  unusual 


46  MISSION  TO   TAVOY. 

beauty,    impressiveness,    and   solemnity,  —  Mr. 
Boardman  says  :  — 

"  In  the  evening  we  had,  as  is  usual  with  us,  a  confer- 
ence or  covenant  meeting.  On  this  occasion  one  of  the 
persons  just  baptized  seemed  to  rejoice  abundantly.  '  I 
feel,' said  he,  'as  if  I  had  almost  arrived  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus.'  —  'Are  you  so  near,'  I  inquired,  'that  you  do  not 
wish  to  approach  nearer  ? '  — '  No,'  he  replied  :  '  I  wish 
to  get  nearer  still.'  I  inquired  if  he  would  not  ere  long 
grow  weary,  and  wish  to  depart  from  the  Saviour's  feet. 

'  No,  I  wish  to  abide  there  forever,'  was  his  answer." 

In  December,  of  this  year,  Ko  Thahbyu, 
having  long  wished  to  cross  the  mountains, 
and  visit  the  Karens  in  Siam,  was  sent  forth 
for  this  purpose,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
church,  accompanied  by  two  other  Karens  who 
volunteered  to  go  with  him.  But  the  time  had 
not  yet  come.  Reaching  the  borders,  they  were 
compelled  by  adversaries  to  return,  their  work 
but  partially  accomplished. 

The  closing  event  of  Mr.  Boardnjan's  life  is 
one  of  the  most  touching  scenes  in  missionary 
history.  It  was  in  February,  1831.  Mr.  Board- 
man  had  declined  in  health  under  that  dread 
disease,  consumption,  and  for  at  least  five 
months  had  looked  death  steadily  in  the  face. 
He  watched  the  symptoms  of  decay,  and  was 
perfectly  sure  that  there  was  no  hope  of  recov- 
ery. At  the  rnoment  when  he  was  past  labor, 
and  when  he  stood  at  the  gate  of  the  Celestial 
City,  Mr.  Mason  arrived  in  Burmah.  His  arrival 
was  most  timely.  The  Karens  had  built  a  zayat 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  which  Mr.  Board- 
man    had   crossed    two  years  before,  and  were 


HISTORICAL  NOTES.  47 

coming  to  convey  him  thither,  —  to  do  his  las.t 
work  as  an  ambassador  of  Christ.  A  crowd  of 
candidates  were  to  be  examined  and  baptized. 
He  was  carried  to  the  place  on  his  cot :  by  a 
whole  day's  diligence  the  examinations  were 
completed,  and  the  baptism  was  appointed  for 
the  evening.     Mr.  Mason  writes  :  — 

"  A  little  before  sunset,  he  was  carried  out  in  his  bed  to 
the  water-side,  where,  lifting  his  languid  head  to  gaze  on 
the  gratifying  scene,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  baptizing  in 
his  presence  thirty-four  individuals,  who  gave  satisfactory 
evidence  to  all  that  they  had  passed  from  death  unto  life. 
After  this  he  seemed  to  feel  that  his  work  was  done. 
He  had  said  in  the  course  of  the  day,  that,  if  he  could 
live  to  see  this  ingathering,  he  could  in  special  mercy  say, 
'  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for 
mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation.'  " 

On  the  way  back  to  the  mission-house  his 
companions  looked  around  on  the  precious  bur- 
den they  bore,  to  see  if  he  needed  any  thing. 
But  "  he  was  not,  for  God  took  him."  His 
stricken  wife  was  a  widow. 

In  an  early  period  of  the  history  of  the  Tavoy 
Mission,  two  native  converts  went  from  village 
to  village,  reading  the  Bible,  and  preaching.  In 
a  space  of  six  weeks  twenty-three  Karens  ap- 
plied for  baptism ;  and  messengers  came  from 
remote  villages,  asking  for  Christian  teaching. 
Every  Burman  family  in  Tavoy  was  supplied 
with  tracts.  At  the  close  of  1833  one  hundred 
and  ninety-four  had  been  baptized,  of  whom 
one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  were  Karens.  In 
1834  the  church  at  Tavoy  formed  a  Missionary 
society,  and  resolved  to  support  two  native 
preachers,  and   the  following   year,  four.     Dr. 


48  MISSION  TO    TAVOY, 

Wade  and  family  arrived  in  Tavoy  in  1835,  ^.nd 
Dr.  Wade  reduced  the  Karen  language  to  writ- 
ing. For,  before  the  establishment  of  the 
mission,  there  was  no  literature,  no  books.  A 
Christian  village  called  Mata  was  formed  in 
1834,  numbering  about  two  hundred  Christians. 
But  in  process  of  time  this  village  declined. 
The  Divine  policy  is  not  to  gather  Christians 
together  by  themselves  for  devotion  and  spirit- 
ual growth ;  but  to  scatter  them  in  the  world, 
that  men  may  take  knowledge  of  them,  as  dis- 
ciples of  Christ. 

A  printing-press  was  established  in  Tavoy  in 
March,  1837;  and  the  same  year  a  theological 
school  was  begun,  numbering  seventeen  stu- 
dents, afterwards  transferred  to  Maulmain,  and 
finally  to  Rangoon.  Mata,  the  largest  church, 
had  a  sewing-society ;  and  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing a  hundred  and  fifty  garments  were  exhib- 
ited, the  work  of  the  members.  "  The  Morning 
Star,"  a  Karen  newspaper,  was  commenced  in 
Tavoy  in  September,  1841,  and  has  been  con 
tinned,  though  not  in  Tavoy,  until  the  present 
time,  —  a  fountain  of  religious  instruction  and 
intellectual  culture  for  the  people.  The  whole 
New  Testament  in  Karen,  translated  by  Dr. 
Mason,  was  issued  in  Tavoy,  Nov.  i,  1843. 

Mr.  Ranney,  printer,'  arrived  in  Tavoy  in  Jan- 
uary, 1844.  The  same  year  there  was  a  re- 
markable revival  of  religion  at  one  of  the  out- 
stations,  and  a  meeting  was  held  continuously 
for  three  weeks.  In  1845  Mr.  Cross  joined  the 
mission,  and  in  1846  Sau  Quala  and  another 
native  preacher  were  ordained.     Mr.  Benjamin 


LATER  CONDITION.  49 

devoted  much  attention  to  the  Salongs,  of  whom 
about  forty  were  gathered  into  a  church  ;  but 
on  the  death  of  Mr.  Benjamin  the  people  were 
found  to  be  few,  and  this  department  was  aban- 
doned. Mr.  Thomas,  the  eminent  Karen  mis- 
sionary, arrived  in  Tavoy  in  May,  185 1,  wrought 
gloriously  for  his  Master  here  and  in  Hcnthada 
for  a  few  years,  returned  home  broken  down  in 
health,  and  died  immediately  after  he  had  greet- 
ed the  shores  of  America.  His  remains  now 
sleep  in  the  missionary  lot  in  the  cemetery  at 
Newton,  Mass.  His  widow,  after  remaining 
several  years  in  this  country,  has  returned  to 
Henthada  to  finish  the  work  which  he  so  well 
began.  The  first  form  of  the  Bible  in  Karen 
was  printed  in  185 1,  and  the  whole  completed 
in  1853,  after  which  the  printing-press  was 
removed  from  Tavoy. 

After  1854  the  mission  in  Tavoy,  by  the 
transferral  of  missionaries  to  other  stations,  and 
for  other  causes,  became  much  enfeebled.  The 
Burman  department  was  less  prosperous  than 
the  Karen,  and,  being  without  a  missionary,  de- 
clined. In  connection  with  the  Tavoy  Associ- 
ation in  1858,  there  were  twenty-one  churches, 
and,  in  1859,  1,080  Karen  members.  From  this 
last  date,  there  have  been  resident  missionaries 
in  Tavoy  from  time  to  time,  but  the  churches 
have  been  very  much  left  to  themselves  and  to 
the  native  preachers.  The  result  proves  that 
they  were  too  feeble  and  inexperienced  to  be 
left  alone,  in  favor  of  more  needy  or  more  prom- 
ising labor. 

Rev.  I.  D.  Colburn,  who  went  to  Burmah  in 


50  MISSION  TO    TAVOY. 

1863,  was  subsequently  designated  to  the  Karen 
department  of  the  Tavoy  Mission,  and  went  to 
Tavoy  in  company* with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Wade, 
who  had  formerly  labored  there.  The  latter  met 
such  a  cordial  greeting,  both  from  Christians 
and  heathen,  that  they  deemed  it  a  duty  to 
recommence  labor  there  for  the  Burmans,  and 
opened  again  a  mission-school,  and  resumed  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel.  A  schism  which  oc- 
curred about  this  time  among  the  Buddhists 
was  favorable  to  the  work.  The  churches  in 
the  district  were  visited,  the  people,  long  cold 
and  indifferent,  showed  signs  of  life  and  vigor, 
and  the  mission  was  practically  taken  up  again. 
In  1866  a  Burman  priest  procured  a  Bible,  and 
began  to  read  it  through  in  course,  and  mani- 
fested much  desire  to  know  the  truth.  There 
was  also  a  revival  in  the  Karen  boys'  school. 
Eleven  requested  baptism ;  the  Spirit  came 
down,  and  a  subdued  feeling  seemed  to  perme- 
ate every  breast.  The  following  year  sixty 
were  baptized,  and  the  churches  in  the  whole 
district  now  numbered  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  members. 

In  1868,  Oct.  5,  Mrs.  Wade  died,  and  was 
buried  at  Tavoy.  Her  last  days  were  full  of  the 
peace  and  joy  of  heaven.  On  account  of  declin- 
ing health,  Mr.  Colburn  removed  to  Toungoo. 
Rev.  Mr.  Morrow,  in  1876,  was  sent  to  take 
charge  of  the  Karen  work. 

Still  the  work  is  not  forsaken.  God  will  not 
cast  off  his  people  whom  he  foreknew.  A  tem- 
porary decline  will  not  be  permanent.  In  1877 
there  was  one  resident  missionary  for  Karens  ; 


LATER   CONDITION.  5 1 

one  native  Burman  preacher  ordained,  and  one 
imordained ;  one  church  of  eight  members,  and 
one  school ;  twenty-one  Karen  churches  in  the 
Tavoy  district,  with  880  members  ;  twelve  Karen 
preachers  unordained,  and  five  ordained ;  and 
nine  schools. 

Two  heathen  villages  have  built  chapels,  and 
teachers  have  been  sent  to  them.  In  one  of 
them,  five  have  been  baptized,  and  others  are 
candidates.  Twenty  members  of  the  school 
were  sent  out  to  teach  and  to  preach  during 
vacation,  —  many  of  them  to  heathen  villages 
ten  or  twelve  days  distant. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Tavoy  Association, 
there  were  294  delegates  in  attendance  ;  and,  as 
many  came  from  a  long  distance,  they  remained 
together  five  or  six  days  engaged  in  religious 
service.  More  than  fifty  heathens  were  pres- 
ent, some  of  them  being  a  deputation  from  the 
village  of  Pau,  stating  that  they  had  built  a 
chapel,  and  earnestly  desired  a  Christian  teacher. 
A  man  was  selected  and  sent.  Fourteen  men 
and  two  women  volunteered  to  work  among  the 
heathen  ;  and  it  was  voted  to  send  the  pastors  of 
the  churches  from  one  to  three  months  on  this 
service,  the  churches  meantime  continuing  their 
support. 


No.   IV. 

MISSION    IN   ARRACAN. 

Geography  of  Arracan.  —  Missionaries  in  Arracan.  —  Early  Mission 
in  Arracan.  —  The  American  Mission  commenced.  —  New  Mis- 
sionaries. —  A  Short  Service.  —  Church  Organized.  —  Departure 
and  Return.  —  Karen  Work.  —  Gathering  Converts.  —  Chetza,  the 
Kemee  Chief.  —  Converts  Multiplied.  —  Doing  it  for  Him.  —  A 
Growing  Work. 

THE  name  of  Arracan  has  disappeared  from 
our  missionary  journals.  But  there  was  a 
period  of  nearly  eighteen  years,  during  which 
it  drew  to  itself  the  attention  of  the  whole 
Christian  world.  The  work  begun  there  has 
not  perished.  The  thirteen  valuable  missiona- 
ries and  their  wives,  who  labored  in  that  prov- 
ince, most  of  whom  have  rested  from  their 
labors,  did  not  labor  in  vain.  The  work  has 
been  transferred  and  extended,  not  abandoned 
nor  lost. 

Arracan  is  a  territory  lying  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  A  range  of  moun- 
tains divides  it  from  Burmah.  In  the  policy  of 
Great  Britain,  which  aims  to  absorb  the  entire 
commerce  of  India,  Arracan  was  first  joined  to 
British  India,  then  Tenasserim,  and  finally  Pegu, 
—  leaving  Burmah  Proper  an  interior  country, 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION  COMMENCED.      53 

and  giving  to  England  the  command  of  all  the 
river-mouths  of  the  kingdom,  so  that  not  a 
pound  of  rice  can  be  exported  from  Burmah 
without  paying  duty  at  an  English  custom-house. 

Arracan  consists  of  four  districts,  —  Akyab, 
Ramree,  Sandoway,  and  Aeng.  The  population 
is  about  250,ocx>.  The  language  is  a  corrupt 
Burman.  Kyouk  Phyoo,  at  the  northern  ex- 
tremity of  Ramree  Island,  is  the  British  mili- 
tary station.  The  chief  article  of  export  is 
rice.  Akyab,  at  the  season  when  vessels  are 
loading,  is  said  to  be  full  of  life  and  bustle,  and 
full  of  population ;  but  the  rest  of  the  year  it 
is  quiet  and  lonely. 

The  places  referred  to  in  this  article  lie  along 
the  Bay  of  Bengal  in  the  following  order,  begin- 
ning at  the  north  :  Akyab,  Kyouk  Phyoo,  Ram- 
ree, Cheduba  Island,  Sandoway,  Bassein. 

The  following  missionaries  were  at  different 
periods  connected  with  the  Arracan  Mission, 
and  commenced  their  labors  at  the  dates  sub- 
joined to  their  names  respectively  :  — 

Rev.  Grover  S.  Comstock  and  wife,  1835  ; 
Rev.  Levi  Hall  and  wife,  1837;  Rev.  E.  Kin- 
caid  and  wife,  1840;  Rev.  Elisha  L.  Abbott  and 
wife,  1840;  Rev.  Lyman  Stilson  and  wife,  1842; 
Rev.  Lovell  Ingalls  and  wife,  1846;  Rev.  J.  S. 
Beecher  and  wife,  1847;  Rev.  C.  C.  Moore  and 
wife,  1848  ;  Rev.  Harvey  M.  Campbell  and  wife, 
1850;  Rev.  Harvey  E.  Knapp  and  wife,  1850; 
Rev.  A.  T.  Rose  and  wife,  1853;  Rev.  A.  B. 
Satterlee  and  wife,  1855 ;  Rev.  H.  L.  Van 
Meter  and  wife,  1855. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Fink,  of  the  Serampore  Mission- 


54  MISSION  IN  ARRACAN. 

ary  Society,  labored  in  Akyab  and  Ramree  for 
a  season,  before  the  foundation  of  the  Ameri- 
can mission,  and  enjoyed  some  success;  for  in 
1840  Messrs.  Kincaid  and  Abbott  found  a  native 
church  at  Akyab  of  thirteen  members,  of  whom 
all  but  one,  it  is  recorded,  had  been  baptized 
twenty-five  years  previously.  But  he  relin- 
quished the  station  in  1837,  leaving  the  field  to 
the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 

In  1835  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Comstock  were  in- 
structed by  the  Board  to  commence  a  mission 
at  some  suitable  place  on  the  coast  of  Arracan. 
Kyouk  Phyoo  was  selected,  on  Ramree  Island, 
the  principal  British  military  station,  — a  place 
having  a  native  population  of  two  thousand 
souls.  The  mission  family  arrived  March  4, 
1835  \  3-i^d  Mr.  Comstock  at  once  commenced 
work,  preaching,  and  distributing  tracts.  Dur- 
ing the  rainy  season,  which  was  then  just  com- 
mencing, he  put  in  circulation  twenty-five  thou- 
sand tracts,  and  received  visitors  from  Ramree 
and  other  districts.  The  next  year  he  visited 
the  neighboring  islands  and  the  district  of  Aeng, 
distributing  tracts,  and  preaching  to  thousands. 
This  year  he  also  found  access  to  the  Khyens, 
a  branch  of  the  Karen  people,  living  like  the 
latter  in  the  mountainous  districts,  and  ready 
like  them  to  welcome  the  good  news  of  the 
gospel.  A  school  was  also  commenced,  to  give 
instruction  in  Burman  and  English. 

May  8,  1837,  two  fellow-laborers  joined  the 
mission,  —  Rev.  Levi  and  Mrs.  Hall.  Mr.  Hall 
was  a  native  of  Stafford,  Conn.,  and  Mrs.  Hall 
of  Southbridge,  Mass.     They  sailed  from  Bos- 


CHURCH  ORGANIZED,  55 

ton  Oct.  17,  1836,  and  arrived  in  Kyouk  Phyoo 
April  25,  1837.  They  were  young  and  vigorous, 
girded  and  prepared  for  the  work,  and  laid  them- 
selves with  willing  hearts  on  the  altar  of  mis- 
sions. But,  alas  !  how  mysterious  are  the  meth- 
►  ods  of  Divine  Providence !  Instead  of  a  long 
life  of  usefulness,  God  gave  them  early  dismissal 
and  a  crown  of  glory  almost  before  their  work 
was  begun.  Mrs.  Hall  died  in  two  months,  and 
Mr.  Hall  in  four  months,  after  their  arrival  on 
their  chosen  field.  Her  age  was  twenty-eight, 
and  his  thirty-two.  Like  Harriet  Newell,  the 
proto-martyr  of  American  missions,  it  was  ac- 
cepted of  them  that  it  was  in  their  hearts  to 
give  themselves  to  the  salvation  of  the  heathen. 
How  eventful  was  this  brief  period  of  their 
lives  !  In  less  than  a  year  they  passed  through 
the  parting  scene  with  home  and  friends,  em- 
barked, crossed  seas  and  oceans  to  India,  settled 
in  their  heathen  abode,  and  were  welcomed  to 
heaven.  The  Lord  of  infinite  resources  could 
dispense  with  their  service  on  earth.  He  had 
higher  service  for  them  in  heaven. 

A  church  was  formed  in  Kyouk  Phyoo,  May 
21,  1837;  3.nd  the  first  assistant  was  engaged  at 
Akyab.  He  was  a  native  of  Arracan,  a  man 
fifty  years  of  age,  and  he  had  been  a  Christian 
twelve  or  fifteen  years.  Another  assistant,  a 
young  Burman  preacher,  was  sent  to  the  field 
by  Dr.  Judson.  It  was  well  that  one  of  these 
assistants  was  a  man  of  mature  years,  of  sound 
judgment,  and  respected  for  his  age  and  experi- 
ence, while  the  other  was  filled  with  the  vigor 
and  enthusiasm   of  youth,  and  eager  to  rnake 


56  MISSION  IN  ARRACAN. 

known  to  others  the  gospel  which  had  proved  a 
blessing  to  his  own  soul.  Like  Peter  and  John, 
one  was  the  complement  of  the  other. 

In  November,  1837,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Comstock 
were  compelled  by  the  failure  of  their  health 
to  retire  for  a  season  to  Maulmain  in  Burmah. 
About  the  same  time  Mr.  Fink,  the  English 
minister,  left  Akyab  ;  and  evangelical  labor,  thus 
suspended  for  a  season,  seemed  at  an  end.  But 
the  seed  sown  in  Arracan  was  not  wasted.  The 
faithful  labors  at  Kyouk  Phyoo,  the  church  of 
thirty  or  forty  members  at  Akyab,  with  three  or 
four  native  assistants,  the  house-to-house  preach- 
ing, the  thousands  of  tracts  distributed,  the 
precious  memory  of  young  Hall  and  his  wife, 
early  ripe,  early  garnered,  the  many  prayers, 
the  promises  of  an  unchanging  God,  were  a 
pledge  of  good  things  to  come.  In  1839  ^^• 
Comstock,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Stilson,  returned 
and  established  themselves  in  Ramree,  in  the 
midst  of  a  population  of  ten  thousand  natives, 
among  whom  they  distributed  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand  tracts.  A  church  was  organized  in 
May,  1839,  embracing  seven  natives.  Mrs. 
Comstock  commenced  a  school,  and  was  soon 
surrounded  by  twelve  or  fifteen  pupils.  In  1840 
there  were  three  missionaries  and  their  wives  in 
Arracan. 

In  Burmah  Proper  persecution  arose  which 
closed  that  country,  substantially,  to  direct  mis- 
sionary effort ;  in  consequence  of  which  Messrs. 
Kincaid  and  Abbott  determined  to  remove 
across  the  mountains  to  Arracan,  that  they 
might  be  under  British  protection,  and  in  due 


GATHERING   CONVERTS.  57 

season  enter  Burmah,  God  willing,  on  that  side. 
The  former  established  himself  temporarily  at 
Akyab,  and  the  latter  at  Sandoway,  where  he 
devoted  his  labors  chiefly  to  the  Karens,  who 
came  to  him  in  large  numbers  from  the  Burman 
side,  beyond  the  hills. 

There  were  now  six  native  assistants.  A 
visit  was  made  to  Cheduba  Island ;  thousands 
heard  the  gospel  from  the  lips  of  the  missionary, 
and  forty  thousand  tracts  were  put  in  circulation 
in  the  island  in  the  space  of  fifteen  days.  In 
May,  1840,  three  converts  were  baptized  at 
Akyab,  and  many  began  to  inquire  the  way  of 
life.  Among  the  latter  was  a  man  ninety  years 
of  age,  a  pillar  of  heathenism,  who  had  grown 
gray  in  the  service  of  Satan.  The  king  of  Bur- 
mah had  sent  him  to  Arracan  from  Ava,  to  ex- 
plain the  sacred  books.  But  a  higher  than  the 
king  of  Burmah  frustrated  the  design  of  that 
monarch  ;  and  the  old  expounder  of  heathenism 
sat  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  an  advocate  of  the 
faith  which  he  came  to  destroy.  In  August, 
1840,  about  thirty  professed  to  believe  the  gos- 
pel. Mrs.  Abbott  had  a  school  for  Burmese 
females.  In  1841  Arracan  had  three  missionary 
stations,  —  Akyab,  Ramree,  and  Sandoway,  — 
with  four  missionaries  and  twenty-seven  native 
assistants.  Mr.  Abbott  reported  one  hundred 
and  ninety-three  baptisms  at  Sandoway.  Many 
Karen  converts  of  Burmah,  persecuted  and  for- 
bidden to  follow  their  Lord's  example  in  their 
own  country,  crossed  the  mountains,  and  were 
baptized  in  Arracan,  on  British  territory;  and 
then  crossed  back  into  Burmah,  to  spread  the 


58  MISSION  IN  ARRACAN. 

glad  news  of  salvation.  This  year  three  addi- 
tional churches  were  organized,  t\i^o  of  them 
south  of  Sandoway,  and  one  near  Akyab  ;  and 
Mr.  Abbott  had  two  schools  for  native  assist- 
ants. A  building  for  a  chapel  and  school  was 
placed  at  the  service  of  the  mission  by  the  Brit- 
ish commissioner.  At  Kyouk  Phyoo,  a  native 
teacher  taught  fifteen  pupils  the  way  of  life. 
From  this  period,  for  a  few  years,  Arracan  was 
a  central  point  of  interest  in  the  Eastern  mis- 
sions, clustering  around  itself  the  most  stirring 
events,  and  furnishing  the  most  effective  con- 
tributions to  the  missionary  periodicals. 

This  year  a  most  interesting  event  occurred 
in  the  history  of  the  mission.  A  mountain  chief 
of  the  Kemees,  Chetza  by  name,  whose  tribe 
lived  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  of  Ak- 
yab, sent  a  memorial  to  the  missionaries,  signed 
by  himself  and  thirteen  subordinate  chiefs,  rep- 
resenting that  they  were  .  **  anxious  to  know 
God,  and  to  be  taught  in  the  true  Book."  The 
letter  gave  the  names  of  two  hundred  and 
seventy-three  children  whom  they  wished  to 
place  in  school,  if  a  missionary  would  come  to 
their  mountains.  Seven  months  later,  a  second 
petition  of  the  same  tenor  followed.  The  chief 
had  built  a  large  zayat  for  meetings,  and  ex- 
pressed the  wish  to  build  a  spacious  house  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  missionaries.  A  visit 
was  made  to  this  promising  locality  by  Mr.  Kin- 
caid  in  1841,  and  by  Mr.  Stilson  in  1842.  The 
latter  spent  three  months  with  them,  reduced 
their  language  to  writing,  and  wrote  out  about 
one-third  of  the  words  in  use  among  them.     He 


CHETZA,    THE  KEMEE   CHIEF.  59 

also  reduced  to  writing  the  language  of  the 
Khyens,  whose  villages  extended  two  hundred 
miles  south  of  the  Kemees.  But  did  the  Kemee 
mountain  chief  and  his  people  ever  have  a  per- 
manent and  resident  missionary  to  teach  them 
the  way  of  life,  and  a  school  for  their  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-three  children  ?  We  remem- 
ber the  document  of  the  chief,  with  its  signa- 
tures, as  it  was  once  exhibited  in  this  country  at 
a  missionary  concert  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Pattison. 
We  remember  the  interest  and  emotion  which 
it  awakened.  But  funds  were  wanting.  Men 
were  wanting.  Chetza  and  his  fellow-chiefs 
longed  for  the  gospel  for  themselves  and  for  the 
people.  But  the  beautiful  feet  of  the  messen- 
gers of  peace  never  trod  upon  the  mountains, 
except  in  those  brief  visits  of  Kincaid  and  Stil- 
son,  and  a  short  residence  of  Mr.  Knapp  in 
1852.  Not  a  Gospel  of  the  New  Testament 
found  its  way  into  their  tongue.  A  catechism, 
a  spelling-book,  and  a  few  reading-lessons  were 
their  whole  Christian  literature.  A  school  was 
commenced  among  them  in  1852,  but  soon  scat- 
tered ;  and  the  name  of  the  Kemees  soon  disap- 
peared from  our  missionary  history. 

The  fruits  of  the  gospel  now  began  to  multi- 
ply in  Arracan,  Mr.  Comstock  baptized  the  first 
convert  in  Ramree,  a  Mussulman,  in  1842.  All 
the  churches  that  had  been  founded  received 
additions.  Megezzin  reported  137  members; 
Baumee,  74;  Ongkyoung,  39;  Surmah,  21 ;  Buf- 
falo, 75  :  total  in  Arracan,  346.  In  the  region 
of  Bassein,  also,  south  of  Sandoway,  and  closely 
connected  with  it,  though  in  Burmah  proper, 


6o  MISSION  IN  ARE  AC  AN. 

a  wonderful  revival  of  religion  prevailed.  The 
converts  were  said  to  number  two  thousand. 
During  the  first  two  months  of  1842,  Mr.  Ab- 
bott baptized  259 ;  and,  in  a  journey  of  thirty- 
one  days,  275  more.  The  Board  at  home  had 
set  their  hearts  upon  Arracan.  But  the  finger 
of  God  pointed  to  Burmah. 

In  1843  the  cholera  prevailed  in  Arracan. 
Several  villages  and  towns  were  nearly  depopu- 
lated, and  among  them  Megezzin,  Baumee,  and 
Ongkyoung,  where  churches  had  been  organized 
and  built  up,  and  the  gospel  faithfully  preached. 
They  had  had  their  day  of  visitation.  Grace 
had  been  offered  to  the  people,  and  the  day  was 
now  past.  The  offer,  at  least  for  that  genera- 
tion, returned  no  more. 

This  year  Mrs.  Comstock  died,  aged  thirty ; 
and  the  next  year,  1844,  Mr.  Comstock,  aged 
thirty-five,  —  both  of  them  in  the  noontide  of 
vigor,  usefulness,  and  hope.  Mrs.  Comstock, 
before  her  marriage,  was  Miss  Sarah  Davis,  of 
Brookline,  Mass.  From  this  same  church  went 
forth,  earlier,  the  first  Mrs.  Mason,  to  the  mis- 
sion in  Burmah ;  and  the  missionary  spirit  of 
these  beloved  and  honored  members  still  lin- 
gers where  their  lives  were  at  first  consecrated 
to  God  and  the  salvation  of  the  heathen.  An 
incident  in  the  life  of  Mrs.  Comstock,  of  touch- 
ing interest  and  full  of  instruction,  has  often 
been  quoted.  When  the  time  arrived  at  which 
it  seemed  necessary  to  send  her  children  to 
America  to  be  educated,  the  claims  of  the  mis- 
sionary work  did  not  permit  the  parents  to 
leave   Arracan.      A   missionary  associate   was 


A    GROWING    WORK.  6l 

about  to  return  home,  and  the  children  were  to 
be  committed  to  his  charge.  The  weeping 
mother  accompanied  the  little  ones  to  the  ship 
on  which  they  were  to  embark,  and  where  she 
was  to  take  a  final  leave  of  them.  She  fully 
realized  the  situation.  All  the  mother  glowed 
in  her  heart,  and  swelled  in  her  eyes.  As  she 
handed  the  little  ones  over  the  rail  of  the  ves- 
sel which  was  to  bear  them  away  forever  from 
her  sight,  —  with  an  agony  which  words  could 
not  express,  and  a  Christian  heroism  worthy  of 
a  martyr,  she  looked  up  to  heaven  with  stream- 
ing eyes,  and  exclaimed,  "  O  Jesus,  I  do  this  for 
thee ! "  and  parted  from  them,  and  went  back 
to  her  work.  Sublime  scene !  What  a  testi- 
mony to  the  power  of  religion,  which  could 
bear  up  the  soul  of  a  tender  woman  under  such 
circumstances  !  She  triumphed  in  the  trial  for 
the  sake  of  Christ,  and  left  the  wonderful  ex- 
ample of  her  self-denial  and  Christian  trust,  — 
one  of  the  precious  and  shining  gems  of  mis- 
sionary history.  What  equal  self-denials  has 
the  reader  endured,  saying,  "  O  Jesus,  I  do  this 
for  thee  "  .? 

Through  the  labors  of  Mr.  Abbott  and  his 
assistants,  and  the  blessing  of  God,  the  work  of 
the  gospel  went  forward,  both  in  Arracan  and 
in  Burmah  Proper  beyond  the  mountains,  but 
under  the  shadow  of  the  influences  which  dwelt 
in  Arracan.  In  1844  a  mission  chapel  was 
completed  in  Akyab.  During  that  year,  1,550 
Karens  were  baptized  in  four  months  in  Pan- 
tanau  district  in  Burmah,  by  two  native  preach- 
ers.    Most  of  the  candidates  had  been  believers 


62  MISSION  IN  AREA  CAN. 

one,  two,  or  three  years.  During  the  same 
year,  489  were  baptized  in  Arracan.  Total 
baptized  in  1844,  2,039.^  ^^  the  school  at  San- 
doway,  during  the  rains,  there  were  fourteen 
native  preachers. 

In  1845,  60^  Karens  were  baptized.  In  1846 
Mr.  Stilson  removed  to  Maulmain,  and  Mr. 
Ingalls  arrived  in  Akyab.  At  the  close  of  this 
year,  there  were  29  out-stations,  and  3,240  mem- 
bers :  two  native  preachers  baptized  812;  and 
1,427  were  reported  as  waiting  for  admission  to 
the  churches. 

In  1847  Mr.  Abbott  returned  to  Sandoway, 
after  a  year's  visit  in  the  United  States.  Dur- 
ing his  absence,  1,150  were  baptized  in  Burmah 
Proper,  and  1,200  more  were  ready  to  receive 
the  ordinance.  This  year  five  Kemees  were 
baptized  at  Akyab,  the  first-fruits  of  the  tribe ; 
and  Rev.  J.  S.  Beecher  joined  the  mission.  In 
1848  the  number  baptized  from  the  beginning, 
in  connection  with  this  mission,  was  said  to 
be  more  than  5,500;  and  5,124  more  Chris- 
tians were  reported  still  unbaptized.  This  year 
Christians,  or  men  of  Christian  preferences, 
were  substituted  for  heathen  as  head  men. 

In  1849  Rev.  C.  C.  Moore  and  wife  arrived 
in  Akyab,  having  been  designated  to  the  station 
at  Ramree.  Mrs.  Moore  died  in  just  eight 
months  after  their  arrival  —  another  early  death 
in  connection  with  this  mission.  Messrs.  Knapp 
and  Campbell  arrived  in  1850;  the  latter  being 
appointed  to  labor  among  the  Kemees,  of  whom, 
up  to  this  date,  only  ten  had  been  baptized. 
Mr.   Campbell  removed  to  the  old   station   of 


A  GROWING   WORK,  67, 

Kyouk  Phyoo,  but  died  of  cholera  in  1852, 
aged  twenty-nine.  A  zayat  was  built  here  in 
185 1,  and  Mr.  Campbell  preached  from  house 
to  house.  This  year  the  members  of  the  church 
at  Akyab  had  become  scattered  in  various  towns. 
Mr.  Knapp  made  a  tour  of  three  months  in  the 
Kemee  jungle,  but  the  hand  of  disease  was 
upon  him.  He  attempted  to  return  to  the 
United  States,  but  died  of  consumption  on  the 
passage,  aged  thirty-three.  On  the  death  of 
Mr.  Knapp,  the  Kemee  department  was  left 
vacant,  and  has  never  been  resumed.  Mr.  Stil- 
son  removed  the  same  year  to  Maulmain.  Mr. 
Rose  arrived  in  Akyab  in  1853  ;  Mrs.  Rose  died 
five  months  afterwards,  and  Mr.  Rose  left  Arra- 
can  the  following  year. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Satterlee  joined  the  mission  in 
1855,  in  the  hope  and  full  expectation  of  a 
long  life  of  useful  labor ;  but  before  the  close 
of  1856  they  had  both  finished  their  course,  and 
received  their  reward,  —  Mr.  Satterlee  being 
thirty-two  years  old,  and  Mrs.  Satterlee  twenty- 
eight. 

The  Karen  department  of  the  Arracan  mis- 
sion was  constituted  in  1849  the  Sandoway 
mission,  and  under  that  name  its  progress  was 
detailed  for  several  years  in  the  annual  reports. 
In  1852  there  were  eight  churches  in  Arracan, 
and  thirty-six  in  Burmah,  all  connected  with  the 
Sandoway  mission.  The  second  Burmese  war, 
after  which  Pegu  was  surrendered  to  Great 
Britain,  put  an  end  to  the  persecution  of  native 
Christians  in  that  region,  and  opened  the  way 
for  the  unobstructed  labors  of  missionaries  in 


64  MISSION  IN  ARRACAN. 

what  had  been  a  part  of  Burmah  Proper,  but 
was  now  under  the  protection  of  a  Christian 
government.  Sandoway  station,  whose  real 
centre  had  long  been  Bassein,  became  hence- 
forward the  Bassein  mission ;  and  the  great 
number  of  Karen  converts  formerly  reported 
in  connection  with  Arracan,  from  this  time  are 
reported  in  connection  with  the  Bassein  mis- 
sion. 

Arracan  has  now  no  missionary.  Its  few 
converts,  if  any  remain,  are  left  to  the  tender 
mercy  of  Him  who  cares  for  his  own,  and  who 
permits  no  work  undertaken  for  his  name's 
sake  to  be  in  vain.  The  labors  performed  and 
the  lives  sacrificed  in  Arracan  are  all  registered 
on  high ;  and  in  the  grand  consummation  we 
shall  hear  of  them  again. 


No.  V. 

MISSION   TO   PROME. 

Geography  of  Prome.  —  Dr.  Judson  in  Prome.  —  Beginning  of  the 
Mission.  —  Seed  springing  up.  —  Trials  and  Mercies.  —  The 
Power  of  Prayer.  —  Removal  of  One  Missionary,  and  Coming  of 
Another.  —  Seed  not  Lost.  —  Entertaining  an  Association.  —  Ac- 
cession and  Death  of  Miss  Simons.  —  Revival.  —  Death  of  Mr. 
Simons.  —  Conclusion. 

PROME  is  situated  on  the  Irrawaddy  River, 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles  north 
of  Rangoon,  one  hundred  miles  distant  from 
Henthada,  and  two  hundred  miles  from  Ava. 
The  city  is  said  to  have  been  founded  four  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  years  before  the  Christian 
era.  A  vast  pagoda,  surrounded  by  several 
smaller  ones,  marks  it  as  a  *'  city  wholly  given 
to  idolatry."  The  pagoda  is  called  Shway  San- 
dau,  and  is  the  same  to  Prome  as  Shway  Da- 
gong  to  Rangoon,  and  Kyaik  Thaulau  to  Maul- 
main.  For  several  miles  below,  the  villages 
are  nearly  contiguous,  some  of  them  very  large. 
Population  22,000,  and,  with  the  vicinity,  120,- 
000  to  150,000. 

In  1830  Dr.  Judson  spent  three  and  a  half 
months  in  Prome,  living  in  a  dilapidated  zayat 
which  had  been  granted  him  by  the  Burmese 

65 


66  MISSION  TO  PRO  ME. 

authorities,  and  situated  on  consecrated  ground 
During  his  stay,  he  distributed  numerous  tracts, 
besides  other  labors.  He  was  accompanied  by 
three  or  four  native  assistants,  who  aided  him 
much  in  making  known  the  gospel  to  the  peo- 
ple. For  a  few  days  he  had  many  visitors,  who 
came  to  inquire  about  the  new  religion,  and 
who  heard  with  some  attention.  At  one  period 
the  whole  town  seemed  roused  to  listen  to  the 
news  of  an  eternal  God,  and  salvation  through 
a  crucified  Saviour.  A  few  seemed  to  have 
attained  a  little  grace ;  but  opposition  and  per- 
secution, like  an  untimely  frost,  nipped  the 
buds  of  promise.  The  ''time  of  love,"  for 
Prome,  "was  not  yet."  Notwithstanding,  in 
September,  1830,  just  as  Mr.  Judson  was  leav- 
ing the  place,  one  native,  a  government  writer, 
sitting  on  the  river-bank  and  lamenting  his 
departure,  said,  "  Mark  me  as  your  disciple. 
I  pray  to  God  every  day.  Do  you  also  pray 
for  me.  As  soon  as  I  can  get  free  from  my 
present  engagements,  I  intend  to  come  down 
to  Rangoon." 

As  he  sailed  down  the  Irrawaddy,  returning 
to  Rangoon,  Mr.  Judson  wrote  thus  in  his  jour- 
nal:— 

"  Afloat  on  my  own  little  boat,  manned  by  none  other 
than  my  three  disciples,  I  take  leave  of  Prome  and  her 
towering  god,  Shway  Sandau,  at  whose  base  I  have  been 
laboring,  with  not  the  kindest  intentions,  for  the  last 
three  months  and  a  half.  Too  firmly  founded  art  thou, 
old  pile,  to  be  overthrown  just  at  present ;  but  the  chil- 
dren of  those  who  now  plaster  thee  with  gold  will  yet 
pull  thee  down,  nor  leave  one  brick  upon  another.  .  .  . 
Farewell  to  thee,  Prome  !     Willingly  would  I  have  spent 


DR.   yUDSON  IN  PROME.  67 

my  last  breath  in  thee  and  for  thee.  But  thy  sons  ask 
me  not  to  stay ;  and  I  must  preach  the  gospel  to  other 
cities  also,  for  therefore  am  I  sent.  Read  the  five  hun- 
dred tracts  that  I  have  left  with  thee.  Pray  to  the  God 
and  Saviour  that  I  have  told  thee  of.  And  if  hereafter 
thou  call  me,  though  in  the  lowest  whisper,  and  it  reach 
me  in  the  very  extremities  of  the  empire,  I  will  joyfully 
listen,  and  come  back  to  thee." 

For  twenty-four  years  no  missionary  returned 
to  Prome  to  care  for  the  good  seed  which  had 
been  sown,  or  to  watch  for  the  coming  harvest. 
If  those  who  had  been  aroused  by  the  truth 
were  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and 
found  their  way  to  heaven,  it  was  the  work  of 
the  Divine  Spirit.  No  human  agency  watched 
or  helped  the  process,  or  witnessed  and  rejoiced 
in  the  glorious  result. 

After  the  annexation  of  Pegu  to  the  British 
possessions  in  India,  subsequent  to  the  second 
Burmese  war,  in  the  reconstruction  of  missions 
Prome  was  adopted  as  one  of  the  new  stations. 
Rev.  Eugenio  Kincaid,  then  of  Rangoon,  and 
Rev.  Thomas  Simons  of  Maulmain,  were  des- 
ignated to  begin  the  mission.  The  former  ar- 
rived in  Prome  Jan.  19,  1854,  and  the  latter  a 
month  later.  A  Burman  Christian  had  pre- 
ceded them,  and  prepared  their  way  by  gather- 
ing some  of  the  people  nightly  to  his  house, 
and  making  known  to  them  the  gospel.  The 
first  Burman  service  held  by  Mr.  Kincaid  was 
on  Jan.  22,  1854.  At  the  first  baptism,  Feb.  22, 
1854,  just  a  month  later,  three  converts,  in  the 
presence  of  their  idolatrous  countrymen,  put  on 
Christ,  —  these  the  first-fruits:  hundreds  were 
to   follow   them.     The   word   of   God  was   not 


6S  MISSION  TO  PROME. 

bound.  Who  can  tell  but  the  seed,  sown  years 
before,  now  and  thus  came  to  maturity,  and  was 
ripe  for  the  harvest  ?  Within  five  months  the 
number  baptized  had  reached  thirty-eight.  At 
the  beginning  of  1855,  less  than  one  year  from 
the  commencement,  there  were  three  out-sta- 
tions, two  native  assistants,  four  churches,  and 
the  near  promise  of  a  fifth.  Of  these  four 
churches,  two  were  composed  of  converted  Ka- 
rens, —  these  simple-hearted  people,  as  else- 
where, accepting  Christ,  and  pressing  into  the 
kingdom,  although  the  main  purpose  and  expec- 
tation of  the  mission  was  to  open  the  door  of 
hope  to  the  Burman  population.  The  number 
of  Christians  had  increased  to  eighty,  residing 
in  twelve  localities,  some  of  which  were  from 
twelve  to  ninety  miles  distant  from,  Prome.  A 
large  number  of  gifted  men  and  women  were 
among  the  converts,  and  one  of  the  two  Karen 
churches  had  a  native  pastor. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  mission,  Prome  was 
rich  in  Burmese  converts.  As  early  as  July, 
1856,  out  of  one  hundred  and  sixteen  baptized, 
one  hundred  were  Burmans.  A  chapel  was 
built  at  Thayet,  an  out-station,  at  the  expense 
of  the  Christian  officers  of  the  British  army, 
who  also  supported  the  native  assistant  laboring 
there.  Two  Karen  preachers  were  ordained 
this  year.  Aid  arose  from  unexpected  quarters. 
Some  who  had  been  idolaters  became  helpers  of 
those  who  sought  to  destroy  idolatry.  A  Bur- 
man  Christian  official  assumed  the  support  of  a 
native  preacher.  Truly,  God's  word  did  not 
return  unto  him  void. 


SEED  SPRINGING   UP.  69 

But  prosperity  was  not  unmingled.  In  1856, 
and  again  in  1857,  the  mission  zayat  was  con- 
sumed by  fire.  At  the  former  date,  nearly  all 
the  city  was  destroyed.  But,  though  the  regu- 
lar place  for  preaching  was  gone,  the  good  news 
of  salvation  was  brought  within  the  reach  of 
another  class  of  hearers.  The  services  were 
held  at  the  city  jail,  and  thus  the  gospel  pro- 
claimed spiritually  the  opening  of  the  prison  to 
them  that  were  bound.  At  the  close  of  1856, 
there  were  five  out-stations  and  ten  native  as- 
sistants, of  whom  six  were  ordained  evangelists 
and  ministers  of  the  Word. 

The  tracts  and  portions  of  Scripture,  which 
had  been  freely  distributed  more  than  twenty- 
two  years  before,  were  not  lost.  How  wonder- 
fully God  provides  for  the  keeping  of  his  truth, 
and  for  the  manifestation  of  its  power  in  the 
appointed  time!  In  1857  the  head  man  of  a 
Burman  village  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
missionaries,  of  whom  it  is  stated  that  the  study 
of  the  tracts  and  Scriptures,  received  so  long 
ago,  had  been  blessed  to  him  and  his  people, 
and  the  whole  village  had  been  led,  in  conse- 
quence, to  forsake  idolatry. 

Not  only  the  common  people,  but  some  in 
high  stations,  were  in  due  time  brought  under 
the  influence  of  the  gospel.  In  1858  a  young 
priest  was  baptized,  putting  off  the  yellow  robe 
of  his  order,  and  putting  on  the  livery  of 
Christ.  A  new  tribe,  called  the  Khyens,  closely 
resembling  the  Karens,  were  brought  to  feel 
the  influence  of  the  gospel.  Many  of  them 
came  as  inquirers,  and  six  or  seven  were  bap- 


70  MISSION  TO  PROME. 

tized.  Six  years  later  one  of  their  number,  a 
gifted  convert,  undertook  to  reduce  their  lan- 
guage to  writing.  Up  to  the  close  of  1858,  two 
hundred  and  sixteen  in  all  had  been  baptized  in 
connection  with  the  mission,  and  thirty-three 
had  joined  the  church  of  the  glorified  in  heaven. 
Even  Prome,  from  which  Dr.  Judson  parted  so 
sadly  in  1830,  had  begun  to  gather  its  redeemed 
ones  before  the  throne,  and  hundreds  of  its 
people  were  in  training  to  sing  the  new  song, 
**  Unto  Him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from 
our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  be  glory  and  honor, 
dominion  and  power,  both  now  and  forever." 
In  1863,  at  the  service  held  at  the  jail,  it  was 
estimated  that  full  one  thousand  persons  heard 
the  gospel  within  the  year.  The  missionary 
spirit  characterized  the  young  converts.  They 
manifested  that  truest  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  a  de- 
sire to  tell  to  others  ''  what  a  dear  Saviour  they 
had  found."  A  Khyen  assistant,  a  man  of  the 
new  tribe,  not  content  to  have  his  zeal  bounded 
by  geographical  limitations,  travelled  over  the 
Arracan  mountains  to  the  sea,  a  hundred  and 
thirty  miles,  across  pathless  deserts,  exposed  to 
wild  beasts  and  deadly  malaria,  and  scorning 
the  hardships  of  the  way,  that  he  might  make 
known  the  gospel  for  the  first  time  to  numbers 
of  the  people  of  his  own  race.  Thus  the  work 
was  not  confined  to  narrow  boundaries.  Not 
only  the  native  assistants,  but  Mr.  Kincaid  also, 
undertook  long-  tours  for  the  sake  of  making 
known  to  distant  idolaters  the  way  of  salvation. 
Mr.  Kincaid  travelled  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  north-east  of  Prome.     Encouraging  open- 


TRIALS  AND  MERCIES.  71 

ings  were  also  found  to  the  south-east.  The  out- 
stations  flourished  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord, 
and  converts  were  multiplied. 

On  the  5th  of  October,  1861,  a  new  chapel, 
built  of  teak-wood,  was  opened  in  Prome. 
But,  as  if  God  would  try  the  faith  of  his  ser- 
vants, in  about  five  months  this  also  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  devouring  element,  which  at  the 
same  time  consumed  about  five  thousand  build- 
ings, —  the  light,  dry  thatch  of  the  native  dwell- 
ings melting  away  like  wax  before  the  flame. 
But  judgment  was  not  unmingled  with  mercy; 
for  the  same  year  an  inquirer,  of  a  new  race, 
afterwards  to  be  made  the  object  of  distinct 
missionary  effort,  appeared  at  the  mission,  and 
asked  for  baptism ;  and  another  of  the  same 
race,  of  ripe  age  and  experience,  a  man  of  sev- 
enty-two years,  the  first  of  his  tribe,  put  on 
Christ  by  an  open  profession.  Thus  to  the 
Shans  also  was  opened  the  way  of  life. 

In  this,  as  in  most  other  missions,  the  power 
of  prayer  has  often  been  experienced  and 
manifested.  In  January,  1863,  the  mission 
kept  the  annual  day  of  prayer,  in  concert  with 
Christians  in  all  lands.  Within  four  months 
afterwards,  twenty-five  were  baptized  in  Prome. 
The  destruction  of  the  chapel  by  fire  opened 
the  way  for  another  display  of  Christian  liber- 
ality. For  a  native  convert,  one  of  the  wealth- 
iest citizens  of  Prome,  when  he  built  for  him- 
self a  new  house,  finished  a  room  in  it  expressly 
for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  And  shortly 
afterwards  the  first  donation  towards  a  new 
chapel,  in  place  of  the  one  which  had  been  con 


72  MISSION  TO  PRO  ME. 

sumed,  was  given  by  a  retired  medical  officer, 
once  a  resident  of  Burmah ;  but,  having  settled 
in  Scotland,  he  was  desirous  of  aiding  in  the 
evangelizing  work  in  the  land  of  his  former 
abode,  which  had  been  cursed  by  the  debasing 
influences  of  idolatry.  It  was  resolved  to  build 
the  new  chapel  of  brick.  One  of  the  American 
laborers  assumed  the  task  of  raising  the  neces- 
sary funds  among  the  friends  of  missions  in 
India,  without  drawing  upon  the  treasury  at 
home.  But  the  work  was  a  tedious  one,  and 
the  burden  too  onerous  for  one  already  pressed 
by  the  spiritual  work  of  employing  every  con- 
secrated energy  to  promote  the  salvation  of  the 
dying  heathen ;  and  it  was  not  until  after  the 
lapse  of  several  years  that  the  undertaking  was 
finished. 

In  1865  Mr.  Kincaid  was  compelled,  on  ac- 
count of  the  illness  of  his  wife,  to  withdraw 
from  the  mission  ;  and  he  never  returned  to 
Burmah  again.  Near  the  close  of  the  same 
year  (Nov.  25)  Rev.  Edward  O.  Stevens,  son  of 
the  veteran  missionary  Rev.  Edward  A.  Ste- 
vens of  Rangoon,  joined  the  mission,  and  found 
an  open  door,  which  he  at  once  entered  with 
resolute  purpose.  Mr.  Stevens  so  far  retained 
the  knowledge  of  the  Burman  language,  which 
he  had  spoken  in  his  childhood,  that,  on  his  first 
Sunday  in  Burmah  as  a  missionary,  he  was 
able  to  read  the  Scriptures  before  a  congrega- 
tion of  Burman  Christians.  The  labors  of  Mr. 
Stevens  at  once  began  to  be  extended  over  a 
wide  space.  Accompanied  by  a  native  preacher 
of  each  of  the  thre€  races,  Burman,  Karen,  and 


SEED  NOT  LOST.  73 

Khyen,  he  moved  from  place  to  place,  each 
preaching  in  his  own  language  to  those  who 
could  understand  him,  and  all  seeking  to  bring 
the  heathen  to  Christ. 

At  this  time  (1867),  after  thirteen  years  of 
labor  in  Prome,  the  city  and  district,  it  was 
found  from  accurate  statistics  that  four  hundred 
and  one  converts  had  been  baptized  in  connec- 
tion with  the  mission.  Of '  these,  three  hun- 
dred and  forty-eight  were  Asiatics  of  different 
races  and  tribes,  and  forty-eight  Europeans,  all 
English.  Thus  the  early  triumphs  of  the  gos- 
pel, which  were  so  often  among  military  men  in 
the  days  of  Christ  and  the  apostles,  were  re- 
peated among  the  soldiers  of  the  British  army ; 
those  who  had  rejected  the  gospel  among  the 
privileges  of  Britain,  finding  the  pearl  of  great 
price  after  they  had  taken  up  their  abode  among 
idolaters.  Divine  Providence,  leading  the  blind 
by  a  way  which  they  know  not,  sent  them  to 
India  because  the  instrumentality  was  there  by 
which  God  had  appointed  to  save  them ;  and 
thus  three-quarters  of  the  globe,  Europe,  Asia, 
and  America,  were  employed  in  preparing  voices 
to  swell  the  heavenly  hallelujahs  which  shall  be 
sung  by  men  out  of  every  nation,  and  kindred, 
and  tongue,  and  people.  The  church  of  Chris- 
tian soldiers  belonging  to  the  British  army  in 
Rangoon,  in  Maulmain,  and  in  Prome,  has  ever 
been  one  of  the  precious  fields  cultivated  by 
our  missionaries. 

After  the  departure  of  Mr.  Kincaid,  the  care 
of  the  church  devolved  largely  on  Mr.  Simons. 
But  Mr.  Stevens  having  arrived,  in   the  vigor 


74  MISSION  TO  PROME. 

of  his  youth  and  zeal,  to  fill  the  vacancy,  Mr. 
Simons  devoted  himself  mainly,  till  the  close  of 
his  life,  to  the  promotion  of  education.  In  1865 
the  scholars  enrolled  in  Prome  and  the  out- 
stations  numbered  two  hundred  and  five,  with 
an  average  attendance  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-eight.  All  of  them  were  under  a  good 
religious  influence,  the  missionary  superintend- 
ing this  department  never  forgetting  that  the 
object  of  his  being  a  laborer  in  Burmah  was 
that  he  might  lead  souls  to  Christ.  At  this 
period,  in  reviewing  his  labors  as  a  pastor,  Mr. 
Simons  refers  in  an  interesting  manner  to  the 
harvest  reaped  from  seed  sown  long  years  pre- 
viously and  now  forgotten,  but  recalled  to  his 
memory  by  letters  from  persons  whose  history 
had  faded  from  his  recollection,  and  whom  he 
had  from  time  to  time,  in  the  course  of  the  last 
thirty-five  years,  introduced  into  the  church. 

The  progress  of  the  work  in  the  next  few 
years  was  very  encouraging.  The  churches 
connected  with  the  mission  made  laudable 
progress  in  self-support.  In  1871  the  Associa- 
tion held  its  annual  session  in  Prome.  Was  it 
an  expense  and  burden  to  the  church  in  Prome  .-* 
No,  for  the  burden  was  borne  chiefly  by  a  sin- 
gle member  of  the  congregation.  But  did  the 
church-members  enrich  themselves  by  this  sav- 
ing of  the  expense  of  hospitality .?  No ;  for 
they  appropriated  the  sum  which  would  have 
been  otherwise  laid  out  in  hospitality  —  had  it 
not  been  for  this  liberal  giver  —  to  aid  the 
feeble  churches  of  the  Association ;  and  thus 
nearly  one  hundred  dollars  were  designated  by 


REVIVAL.  75 

them  to  aid  in  the  building  and  furnishing  of 
chapels  at  two  of  the  out-stations.  Besides 
this,  the  church  in  Prome  contributed  a  consid- 
erable portion  of  the  salary  of  their  own  pastor. 
Several  of  the  Burman  disciples  conscientiously 
devoted  one-tenth  of  their  income  to  the  Lord, 
and  their  example  exerted  a  most  wholesome 
influence  on  others.  The  whole  field  this  year 
showed  the  most  promising  signs  of  growth 
and  hopefulness. 

In  1873  Miss  Simons,  the  daughter  of  Rev. 
Thomas  Simons,  paid  her  own  passage  from 
this  country  to  Burmah,  and  went  thither  that 
she  might  make  herself  useful  in  Burman 
schools,  in  connection  with  her  father's  work. 
But  her  health  soon  failed,  and  she  shortly  after 
passed  away. 

In  1874  a  remarkable  work  of  grace  sprang 
up  at  an  out-station  of  Prome,  west  of  the  Irra- 
waddy  River,  in  connection  with  the  labors  of  a 
Shan  man  who  spoke  Burman,  and  was  baptized 
in  Bassein  in  1854.  After  a  period  of  darkness 
and  backsliding,  he  was  revived  and  restored  in 
1872,  and  at  once  began  to  labor  for  the  souls 
of  his  fellow-men,  telling  his  neighbors  and 
friends  all  he  knew  about  the  religion  of  Christ. 
He  knew  little  of  the  gospel,  except  that  Christ 
died  to  save  sinners,  and  that  men  must  believe 
in  him  for  salvation  ;  but  he  had  experienced 
this,  and  succeeded  in  making  others  receive  it. 
A  radical  change  followed  in  many,  which  was 
attended  by  their  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
their  practice  of  Christian  worship  under  great 
disadvantages,  and  their  willing  sacrifices  in 
behalf  of  their  new  faith. 


76  MISSION  TO  PROME. 

In  1875  Mr.  Stevens,  on  account  of  impaired 
health,  returned  for  a  season  to  the  United 
States,  and  remained  at  home  till  October,  1877. 
During  his  absence  the  work  of  evangelization 
was  prosecuted,  mainly  through  the  native 
assistants,  with  much  vigor  and  earnestness. 
Two  of  the  preachers  went,  like  city  mission- 
aries, from  house  to  house,  preaching  the  gospel, 
and  giving  tracts  to  the  people  passing  to  and 
from  the  city.  A  Bible-woman  did  a  similar 
work  for  the  good  of  her  own  sex.  There  were 
three  principal  out-stations,  and  twelve  baptisms 
were  reported  during  the  year,  and  a  total  of 
two  hundred  and  seventeen  members. 

Mr.  Simons,  the  veteran  missionary  of  Prome, 
died  at  that  place  Feb.  19,  1876,  aged  seventy- 
five.  He  was  a  native  of  Wales,  Great  Britain, 
and  first  sailed  from  Boston  to  join  the  Burman 
mission,  June  29,  1832.  He  desired  that  his 
house  and  compound  at  Prome  should  be  se- 
cured to  the  Missionary  Union  for  the  use  of 
the  mission  ;  thus  giving  himself  to  the  ser- 
vice of  the  mission  while  he  lived,  and  contrib- 
uting all  that  he  left  behind  to  the  same  blessed 
work. 

The  present  number  of  members  connected 
with  the  churches  in  the  Prome  mission  is  two 
hundred  and  fifty-one. 

The  connection  of  Dr.  Judson  with  the 
Prome  mission  at  the  outset,  in  1830,  gives  it  a 
special  interest  and  significance.  We  recur 
with  a  feeling  of  lively  sympathy  to  the  days  of 
darkness  and  discouragement,  when  he  planted 
himself   in  Prome,  eager  to  make  known  the 


CONCLUSION.  77 

way  of  salvation  to  its  idolatrous  inhabitants. 
We  go  out  with  him  in  imagination,  as  he  leaves 
the  city,  after  his  brief  sojourn,  and  returns  to 
Rangoon,  not  knowing  what  God  would  do  for 
Prome,  nor  when,  in  his  Divine  purposes,  he 
would  arise  for  the  deliverance  of  its  people. 
And  with  joy  we  see  the  work,  recommenced 
only  four  years  after  his  death,  advancing  on 
every  side,  and  crowned,  in  so  brief  a  period, 
with  hundreds  of  converted  souls. 


No.  VI. 

MISSION   TO    TOUNGOO. 

Geography  of  Toungoo.  —  The  Mission  begun.  —  The  Mission  in 
Charge  of  Sau  Quala.  —  Burman  Department.  —  New  Tribes.  — 
Two  Associations.  —  Prosperity  of  the  Mission.  —  Karen  Associa- 
tions. —  Relations  of  Dr.  Mason.  —  Death  of  Dr.  Mason.  —  Active 
Labor  and  Results.  —  Conclusion. 

TOUNGOO  is  a  walled  city,  on  the  Sitang 
River,  a  hundred  miles  above  Shwaygyeen. 
Three  rivers,  whose  main  course  is  towards 
the  south,  water  the  kingdom  of  Burmah,  —  the 
Irrawaddy,  the  Salwen,  and  the  Sitang.  The 
smallest  of  the  three,  the  Sitang,  has  its  course 
about  midway  between  the  two  others.  It  is 
remarkable  for  an  immense  bore^  or  rushing 
tide,  which  renders  the  ascent  of  the  river  by 
boat  extremely  difficult  and  perilous.  Dr.  Ma- 
son, in  his  journal  describing  his  first  ascent  of 
the  river,  gives  a  thrilling  description  of  the 
scene.  Toungoo  has  a  very  numerous  Burman 
population,  and  there  are  two  cities  north  of  it 
having  a  large  number  of  inhabitants.  Toung- 
oo is  regarded  by  the  British  government  as  a 
place  of  much  importance,  being  a  great  entre- 
pot of  trade  for  Northern  Burmah  and  the 
78 


THE  MISSION  BEGUN.  79 

Shans,  and  the  terminus  to  which  caravans 
bring  their  commodities  from  Bhamo  and  West- 
ern China.  It  is  connected  with  Rangoon  by- 
steam  navigation,  by  means  of  a  canal  opened 
by  the  government  across  the  great  Pegu  plain. 
The  first  steamer  by  this  route  arrived  in 
Toungoo  July  19,  1866.  The  steamer  was  com- 
manded by  Capt.  Greenwood,  an  American, 
formerly  of  Maryland. 

The  mission  in  Toungoo  was  organized  near 
the  close  of  1853.  Two  or  three  years  before, 
a  man  from  Toungoo  had  visited  a  Christian 
village  in  Tavoy  district,  where  he  was  met  by 
the  grace  of  God,  and  hopefully  converted.  He 
returned  to  his  home,  and  gave  a  glowing  ac- 
count of  what  he  had  witnessed  and  of  what 
he  had  felt,  like  the  woman  of  Samaria  tell- 
ing how  great  things  Jesus  had  done  for  him, 
and  calling  the  men  of  the  city  to  come  and 
see  if  this  were  not  the  Christ.  His  narra- 
tive awakened  the  zeal  of  Sau  Quala,  a  native 
Karen  preacher,  who  had  been  converted  by 
the  first  sermon  of  Ko  Thahbyu,  the  teacher 
with  whom  Dr.  Mason  began  the  study  of 
Karen. 

When  the  war  was  concluded.  Dr.  Mason 
asked  leave  to  establish  a  mission  in  Toungoo. 
It  was  characteristic  of  him,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  his  missionary  career,  to  be  always 
planning  for  new  conquests.  The  apostle's  ex- 
pression,— "the  regions  beyond,"  —  indicative 
of  his  true  missionary  spirit,  often  occurs  in  his 
official  journals  and  his  friendly  correspondence. 
Being  encouraged  to  go  forward,  he  arrived  in 


8o  MISSION  TO   TOUNGOO. 

Toungoo  Oct.  22,  1853,  with  two  or  three  na- 
tive associates.  The  way  was  evidently  pre- 
pared. The  second  day  after  his  arrival  he  was 
visited  by  as  many  as  a  hundred  callers,  chiefly 
Burmans,  although  the  mission  was  mainly  de- 
signed, in  the  outset,  as  a  mission  for  Karens, 
and  the  Burmese  department  for  many  years 
was  but  imperfectly  provided  for.  In  a  few 
weeks  three  persons  declared  that  they  had  re- 
nounced idolatry,  and  two  or  three  seemed  to 
be  sincere  disciples.  The  Karens  also  visited 
Dr.  Mason  in  large  numbers,  and  many  ap- 
peared to  receive  the  truth  of  the  gospel  as 
soon  as  it  was  announced  to  them.  Sau  Quala 
and  two  associates  arrived  in.  the  following 
December.  The  first  baptism  was  adminis- 
tered Jan.  16,  1854,  to  two  pupils  of  the  school 
which  had  been  established ;  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  first  celebrated  in  Toungoo  the 
same  day.  And  thus  was  a  new  centre  estab- 
lished in  the  interior  of  Burmah,  from  which 
the  gospel  might  go  forth,  east  and  west  and 
north  and  south,  conquering  and  to  conquer. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  mission  was 
set  in  operation.  Dr.  Mason's  impaired  health, 
after  a  service  of  nearly  twenty-four  years  in 
the  missionary  field,  compelled  him  to  leave 
Burmah  for  a  temporary  visit  to  the  United 
States.  Accordingly  he  sailed  Jan\  18,  1854, 
leaving  the  new  mission  in  Toungoo  in  the 
charge  of  the  native  helper,  Sau  Quala.  The 
face  of  this  man  is  familiar  to  many  in  the 
United  States,  through  a  photograph  of  native 
preachers  which  has  found  its  way  to  many  of 


MISSION  IN  CHARGE   OF  SAU  QUA  LA.      8i 

the  friends  of  missions.  His  appearance  of 
intelligence,  dignity,  seriousness,  and  earnest- 
ness, seemed  a  guaranty  of  his  sincerity ;  and 
his  name  was  known  and  honored  in  this  as 
in  his  own  country,  as  a  man  of  apostolic  zeal, 
whom  God  owned  by  granting  him  apostolic 
success.  Born  in  poverty,  and  nurtured,  through 
the  condition  of  his  early  days,  to  endure  hard- 
ness as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  was 
peculiarly  fitted  for  the  service  to  which  he 
was  called.  Devout,  zealous,  faithful,  self-deny- 
ing, humble,  he  labored  without  stint  and  al- 
most without  cessation,  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  day  and  night.  With  never-wearying 
activity,  he  was  everywhere  in  his  field,  plan- 
ning wisely,  superintending  efficiently,  and  com- 
mending himself  to  all  "  by  pureness,  by  knowl- 
edge, by  long-suffering,  by  kindness,  by  a  holy 
spirit,  by  love  unfeigned."  All  felt  that  he  was 
truly  a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  God 
kept  him  during  all  the  period  of  Dr.  Mason's 
absence,  and  for  years  afterwards,  a  strength 
and  support,  through  Divine  grace,  for  the  nu- 
merous converts  and  the  infant  churches.  The 
mission  grew  apace  under  his  ministrations, 
and  multitudes  were  added  unto  the  Lord.  It 
was  a  long  season  of  the  Pentecostal  effusion  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Immediately  after  Dr.  Mason 
left  for  America,  four  native  preachers  were  put 
in  charge  of  four  native  tribes,  to  make  known 
to  them  the  way  of  salvation  by  the  blood  of 
Christ.  The  first  year  of  the  mission,  741  con- 
verts were  baptized.  Within  a  year  and  nine 
months,  Sau  Quala  had  baptized  1,860  disciples, 


S2  MISSION  TO    TOUNGOO. 

and  organized  twenty-eight  churches,  and  hun- 
dreds more  were  anxious  to  be  baptized  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  missionary  was 
absent,  but  the  God  of  missions  remained ;  and 
He  who  left  with  his  apostles  the  farewell  prom- 
ise, "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world,"  carried  forward  the  work 
gloriously,  giving  it  broad  foundations  and  won- 
derful expansion.  In  all  the  Karen  wilderness, 
the  desert  rejoiced  and  blossomed  like  the  rose. 

But  Satan  loves  a  shining  mark,  and  some- 
times aims  to  strike  a  conspicuous  blow.  If  he 
cannot  stop  the  work  of  God,  he  seeks  to  mar 
and  blur  it.  After  laboring  for  more  than 
twelve  years  with  apostolic  zeal  and  devotion, 
and  perhaps  with  more  than  apostolic  success, 
in  an  evil  hour  Sau  Quala  was  tempted  and  fell. 
An  act  of  open  sin  clouded  his  brilliant  career, 
and  he  was  lost  to  the  ministry.  With  a  peni- 
tence like  that  of  Peter,  "he  "wept  bitterly" 
over  his  fall,  and  at  once  retired  from  the 
public  ministration  of  the  Word  ;  and  his  name 
disappears.  His  course  ever  afterwards  was  a 
most  humble  and  penitent  one ;  and  he  showed 
by  years  of  upright  and  virtuous  living  that  his 
penitence  was  genuine,  and  that  he  had  been 
restored  to  the  fellowship  of  a  forgiving  God. 

Although  the  mission,  as  originally  planted, 
was  specifically  a  mission  to  the  Karens,  in 
July,  1856,  a  mission  for  the  Burmans  of 
Toungoo  was  commenced,  under  the  charge  of 
a  native  pastor.  It  was  reported  that  year  that 
zayats  for  the  worship  of  God  and  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  people  had  been  erected  in  forty 


NEW  TRIBES.  83 

villages,  in  all  of  which  the  inhabitants  pro- 
fessed to  have  renounced  idolatry,  and  adopted 
the  service  of  the  true  God. 

In  December  of  this  year,  ten  young  men, 
who  had  been  students  in  Dr.  Wade's  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  in  Maulmain,  were  added  to  the  la- 
borers in  Toungoo  district.  So  large  a  harvest 
demanded  new  reapers  ;  and,  with  the  laborers, 
there  were  opened  new  sources  of  supply.  The 
support  of  these  new  laborers  was  assumed  by 
the  Maulmain  Missionary  Society.  Burmah 
was  beginning  by  men  and  means  to  provide 
for  its  own  evangelization. 

In  January,  1857,  Dr.  Mason,  with  invigor- 
ated health,  returned  to  his  field.  In  that 
month  Mr.  Whitaker,  before  referred  to,  in 
a  tour  among  the  Karen  villages,  baptized  two 
hundred  and  thirty-three  converts.  He  reaped 
largely,  for  his  career  was  to  be  short.  The 
churches  had  now  become  numerous  and  widely 
diffused.  The  first  Association,  after  an  exist- 
ence of  a  little  more  than  three  years,  was 
divided  into  two  harmonious  bands.  Self-sup- 
port began  to  be  a  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
churches.  Various  tribes  of  Karens  had  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  brethren,  differing 
more  or  less  in  language,  manners,  and  dress, 
as  well  as  in  extent,  but  all  accessible  to  the 
gospel.  Of  these  tribes,  the  most  important 
and  extensive  were  the  Bghais  (pronounced 
Bwai)  and  Pakus-;  and  these  tribes,  at  a  later 
period,  gave  their  names  to  the  two  Associations 
of  churches.  The  first  book  in  the  Bghai  dia- 
lect was  a  translation,  by  the  native  preacher 


S4  MISSION  TO   TO  UN  GOO. 

Shapau,  of  the  Burman  catechism,  giving  a 
summary  of  the  Christian  religion.  It  was 
pubHshed  in  1857.  The  first  work  in  that  lan- 
guage published  by  Dr.  Mason  was  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount.  He  had  already  translated 
the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  besides  an  arithmetic 
and  about  fifty  hymns.  At  the  beginning  of 
1858,  twenty-seven  Bghai  villages  had  nominally 
embraced  Christianity,  received  teachers,  built 
chapels,  and  established  schools  ;  and  a  National 
Education  Society  had  been  formed,  embracing 
among  its  members  eighty-two  chiefs.  In  De- 
cember of  this  year  Dr.  Mason  visited  a  new 
tribe,  the  Red  Karens,  a  people  living  twenty 
days  distant  from  Toungoo,  and  left  among 
them  three  teachers,  to  whom  the  chief  of  the 
tribe  gave  a  dwelling-house,  and  promised  to 
build  for  them  a  zayat  and  to  establish  schools. 
Of  the  stations  already  occupied,  fifty-two  be- 
longed to  the  Pakus,  and  forty-nine  to  the 
Bghais.     Then  came  an  era  of  disaster. 

After  several  years,  in  which  the  mission  had 
languished,  and  converts  were  persecuted,  Dr. 
Cross  had  a  school  of  over  eighty  native  assist- 
ants, and  the  Bible  formed  the  basis  of  all  the 
instruction  given.  An  entire  chapter  from  the 
word  of  God  was  recited  by  one  of  the  stu- 
dents every  morning.  Two  Associations  of 
churches  were  maintained.  A  new  interest 
was  awakened  in  the  Scriptures,  and  there 
was  an  increased  demand  for  Bibles  and  tracts. 
Ministers'  meetings  were  largely  attended ;  and 
topics  were  discussed  by  the  young  pastors,  in 
presence  of  the  missionary,  having  reference  to 


PROSPERITY  OF  THE  MISSION.  85 

the  polity,  the  spiritual  life,  and  the  advance- 
ment of  the  churches.  A  quarterly  magazine 
in  the  Karen  language  was  commenced  in  1868. 
All  parts  of  the  field  were  thoroughly  visited 
by  travelling  preachers.  Destitute  churches 
were  reported  as  asking  for  preachers,  and  hea- 
then villages  as  desiring  to  be  taught  the  word 
of  life.  This  year  the  way  seemed  to  be  open- 
ing into  the  Red  Karen  country.  The  petty 
wars  between  these  tribes  seemed  nearly  at  an 
end,  and  the  missionaries  sent  home  word  that 
two  men  were  needed  at  once  to  occupy  these 
fields  for  Christ.  Many  of  the  churches  were 
still  without  teachers,  and  most  of  the  teachers 
were  sadly  deficient  in  zeal  and  education.  But 
in  1869  there  were  two  Associations,  embracing 
seventy-two  churches,  more  than  twenty-one 
hundred  members,  and  sixty-two  preachers,  of 
whom  seven  were  ordained,  and  competent  to 
be  intrusted  with  the  office  of  administering 
the  ordinances  and  expounding  the  doctrines 
of  Christ. 

With  health  impaired  by  his  labors,  Dr.  Cross 
in  1869  made  a  brief  visit  to  the  United  States, 
and  returned  to  his  station  in  Toungoo  in  1870. 
The  time  for  the  conversion  of  the  Red  Karens 
seemed  to  be  approaching.  A  tour  was  made 
among  them  by  Mr.  Vinton,  accompanied  by 
native  preachers ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit  seemed 
to  have  prepared  the  way.  At  the  solicitation 
of  the  chief  of  the  tribe,  two  native  preachers 
were  located  at  his  village  in  Western  Karen- 
nee,  and  the  chief  offered  to  give  them  all  the 
assistance  in  his  power.     The  first  convert  of 


S6  MISSION  TO    TO  UNO 00. 

this  tribe  was  baptized  in  1870,  and  soon  after- 
wards his  wife  and  two  or  three  more  of  the 
same  race.  Notwithstanding  the  troubles  that 
had  divided  and  rent  the  mission,  the  number 
of  churches  had  risen  to  sixty-nine,  with  nearly 
three  thousand  members,  and  five  hundred  and 
seventy-two  pupils  in  the  different  schools. 

This  year  a  marked  feature  of  the  Association 
was  the  number  of  heathen  people  in  attend- 
ance. Three  heathen  villages  were  represented 
by  large  delegations  of  both  men  and  women  — 
two  of  them  from  a  new  branch  called  the 
Geckhos.  Many  churches  were  evidently  re- 
turning from  their  backslidings,  and  forsaking 
their  false  doctrine,  and  there  was  encouraging 
promise  that  the  divisions  were  to  come  to  an 
end.  Dr.  Mason,  who  had  joined  hitherto  with 
his  wife,  now  disgusted  by  her  extravagant 
teachings,  found  his  eyes  at  last  opened,  and 
used  his  influence  to  heal  the  wounds  which 
the  body  of  Christ  had  so  long  suffered.  An 
Anglo-Burman  school  was  commenced  at  Toung- 
00,  with  forty-five  scholars,  of  whom  two-thirds 
paid  their  tuition  monthly.  In  this  school  the 
design  to  make  the  gospel  prominent  was  ever 
kept  in  view.  Much  religious  instruction  was 
given,  and  not  without  beneficial  effect.  The 
father  of  one  of  the  pupils  became  a  hopeful 
inquirer,  and  professed  to  have  abandoned  the 
worship  of  idols  for  the  worship  of  the .  true 
God.  The  word  of  God  was  made  the  founda- 
tion of  all  instruction,  and  the  students  com- 
mitted to  memory  much  of  the  Bible  as  a  part 
of  their  daily  work.     The  school  was  supported 


RELATIONS  OF  DR.   MASON.  87 

partly  by  the  fees  for  tuition  paid  by  the  pupils, 
and  partly  by  the  Burmah  Baptist  Missionary 
Convention.  A  Burman  native  preacher  was 
stationed  at  Toungoo  in  1872,  and  there  was 
one  open  inquirer. 

The  Associations  and  quarterly  meetings  of 
the  Karens  are  their  great  feast-days,  and  draw 
together  the  people  from  a  wide  region  of  coun- 
try. Even  the  Burman s  who,  are  still  heathen 
are  curious  to  attend  them.  At  a  Karen  quar- 
terly meeting  in  1873,  many  Burmans  were 
present,  and  anxiously  asked  that  there  might 
be  Burman  preaching.  Several  of  them  staid 
all  day,  and  many  came  the  day  following. 
Eighteen  or  twenty  Karen  preachers  made  ef- 
fective addresses,  or  read  essays  which  showed 
a  high  degree  of  intellect  and  care.  At  this 
meeting  it  was  manifest  that  the  work  of  recon- 
ciliation and  restoration  was  gradually  but  sure- 
ly going  on.  At  the  close,  work  was  assigned 
to  twenty  of  the  pupils  of  the  school  as  assist- 
ants at  various  points,  and  fifteen  others  were 
sent  to  different  villages  as  teachers  and  leaders 
of  the  worship.  And  this  was  not  all.  In 
1872  Dr.  Mason,  whose  connection  with  the 
Missionary  Union  as  its  missionary  had  been 
suspended,  was  re-appointed  by  the  Executive 
Committee.  Many  of  the  Karens,  by  a  sponta- 
neous movement,  came  forward  at  a  public 
gathering  to  meet  those  from  whom  they  had 
been  separated  so  long  in  feeling  and  spirit, 
manifesting  great  joy  and  brotherly  love,  and  a 
desire  to  be  engaged  in  the  work  of  saving  their 
countrymen.      A  thousand  members  who  had 


88  MISSION  TO   TOUNGOO. 

Stood  aloof,  it  was  announced,  would  doubtless 
return.  The  Paku  Association  in  1872  had  a 
native  moderator.  Among  the  items  of  busi- 
ness were  several  of  a  truly  missionary  char- 
acter. Four  native  preachers  offered  their 
services  to  carry  the  message  of  the  gospel  in 
one  direction,  six  in  another,  and  four  or  five  to 
visit  the  churches  that  had  been  led  astray,  in 
the  great  division,  by  false  doctrine  and  en- 
deavor to  restore  them. 

About  that  time  Mr.  Eveleth,  a  new  mission- 
ary, took  charge  of  the  Burman  department  of 
the  work,  and  there  was  a  large  number  of  in- 
quirers. A  government  official,  of  much  influ- 
ence, was  baptized.  The  history  of  his  conver- 
sion is  interesting.  He  had  received  a  Christian 
tract  thirteen  years  previously  from  a  Karen 
preacher,  by  which  he  was  deeply  impressed. 
He  met  with  stern  opposition  from  his  family, 
but  at  last  he  came  out  boldly  on  the  side  of 
Christ.  Again  an  Anglo-Burman  school  was 
commenced  under  Mr.  McColeman,  a  Christian 
East  Indian  of  good  education,  which  brought 
several  young  men  under  the  influence  of  the 
gospel. 

The  year  1874  was  marked  by  the  lamented 
death  of  Dr.  Mason,  who  had  been  so  promi- 
nent a  member,  and  so  great  an  honor  and 
strength  to  the  mission.  He  was  a  native  of 
Yorkshire  in  England,  came  to  America,  a  me- 
chanic, a  bootmaker,  and  labored  at  his  trade  in 
Canton,  Mass.,  where  he  was  baptized  by  Rev. 
Samuel  Adlam.  In  his  early  handicraft  he  fol- 
lowed  in   the   footsteps  of   the  celebrated  Dr. 


DEATH  OF  DR.   MASON.  89 

Carey,  whom  in  his  subsequent  and  brilliant 
career  he  so  much  resembled.  He  was  ordained 
in  Boston,  May,  1830,  sailed  May  25,  1830,  la- 
bored twenty-two  years  with  marked  success  in 
Tavoy,  and  about  the  same  length  of  time  in 
Toungoo  ;  and  died  March  3,  1874,  aged  seventy- 
four  years,  eleven  months.  The  opening  of  his 
missionary  career  in  Burmah  was  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Karens.  That  wonderful  scene 
will  never  be  forgotten,  where,  in  the  presence 
of  the  dying  missionary  Boardman,  he  com- 
menced his  work  by  baptizing  thirty-four  Karen 
disciples,  the  first  fruits  to  Christ  of  that  inter- 
esting people,  —  thus  putting  on  the  harness 
just  as  his  predecessor,  still  in  his  youth,  was 
putting  on  his  crown.  Dr.  Mason  translated 
the  whole  Bible  into  the  Sgau  Karen  dialect, 
wrote  and  translated  many  works  by  which  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  literature  theological, 
educational,  and  scientific,  for  the  Karens,  and, 
like  Dr.  Carey,  studied  for  his  recreation  the 
geography  and  natural  history  of  Burmah,  and 
issued  from  the  press  volumes  of  a  scientific 
character  which  are  an  honor  to  the  scholarship 
of  the  American  church.  He  was  a  man  of 
high  purpose,  untiring  diligence,  and  scholarly 
tastes,  and  as  a  preacher,  translator,  and  author, 
performed  most  honorable  service  for  the  church 
and  the  world.  Ill  health  diminished  his  ac- 
tivity, but  in  no  degree  abridged  his  enthusiasm, 
or  his  love  of  Christian  labor. 

In  the  year  1875  two  Shan  preachers,  speak- 
ing the  Burman  language,  visited  among  the 
villages  of  Toungoo  district.     In  one  place  the 


90  MISSION  TO    TOUNGOO. 

chief  called  his  people  to  come  to  the  zayat, 
and  hear  the  way  explained  of  salvation  through 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  For  a  long  time  the 
zayat  was  full  of  people,  interested  to  hear  the 
new  doctrine.  In  the  Karen  department  every 
available  man  and  woman  was  set  to  work  to 
make  known  the  gospel,  and  more  were  called 
for.  A  revision  of  the  Bible  in  the  Paku  dia- 
lect was  nearly  ready  for  the  press.  The  field 
among  the  Red  Karens  began  to  yield  fruit,  and 
eleven  converts  from  that  people  were  baptized. 

In  1876,  in  the  Burman  department,  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  villages  were  visited.  Among 
twenty  villages  only  one  kyoung  or  priests* 
house  was  found,  and  the  people  were  con- 
vinced that  Gaudama  could  do  nothing  for 
them.  Few  attended  the  idolatrous  feasts. 
From  one  village  messengers  came  several 
times  to  the  missionaries,  anxious  to  have  a 
chapel  built,  and  to  have  religious  worship 
among  them  as  often  as  possible. 

In  1876  Mr.  Crumb  was  added  to  the  labor- 
ers in  the  Karen  department.  Helpers  from 
the  Woman's  Missionary  Society  strengthened 
the  schools.  Nearly  every  family  in  a  goodly 
number  of  villages  was  visited.  The  Paku  As- 
sociation met  in  a  village  a  hundred  miles  from 
Toungoo,  and  was  a  meeting  of  great  interest. 
Sixty  churches  were  represented.  Of  the  pas- 
tors, thirty-five  in  number,  five  were  ordained. 
Members,  1,843  >  pupils  in  school,  378.  Many 
of  the  old  churches  which  had  swerved  from 
the  faith  came  back  into  line.  Through  the 
influence  of  Mr.  Bunker,  the  lists  of  members 


CONCLUSION.  91 

were  revised,  church  discipline  was  set  on  a 
Scriptural  foundation,  and  church-books  of  about 
forty  of  the  churches  were  prepared,  compris- 
ing the  catalogue  of  members,  covenant,  preach- 
ers, and  history  from  the  beginning.  The 
churches  showed  a  total  of  2,068  members.  At 
the  last  Association  over  800  were  present, 
sharing  in  the  interesting  occasion,  and  receiv- 
ing the  spiritual  benefits  of  communion  with 
saints.  It  was  the  best  meeting  they  had  ever 
held.  A  missionary  to  the  Red  Karens  was 
ordained.  The  work  of  evangelization,  under 
most  favorable  auspices,  was  placed  on  firmer 
foundations,  and  set  forward  under  renewed 
and  the  most  propitious  impulses. 

The  labors  of  Messrs.  Bixby  and  Gushing  at 
Toungoo  belong  specifically  to  the  history  of 
the  mission  to  the  Shans.  Their  efforts,  how- 
ever, especially  in  the  earlier  residence  of  Mr. 
Bixby,  were  highly  useful  in  the  work. 

The  narrative  of  the  Toungoo  mission  is  full 
of  interest  and  instruction.  It  shows  that  the 
work  of  missions  is  the  work  of  God,  and, 
though  it  may  for  a  season  be  under  a  cloud, 
he  has  power  to  bring  light  out  of  darkness 
and  order  out  of  confusion.  The  history  shows 
how  delicate  and  responsible  is  the  task  of 
selecting  the  right  men  and  women  to  labor, 
and  how  great  evil  may  be  wrought  by  "  a  sin- 
gle opinionated,  incompetent,  and  wrong-headed 
missionary,"  male  or  female.  The  early  suc- 
cess of  the  gospel  among  the  Karens  of  Toung- 
oo, a  people  hitherto  unenlightened,  and  who 
had   had   no   contact  with  Ghristianity,  proves 


92  MISSION  TO    TOUNGOO. 

that  the  work  is  by  the  power  of  God.  And 
the  extent  to  which  native  agency  has  been 
effective  in  organizing  and  building  up  these 
churches  confirms  the  principle,  that,  while  mis- 
sionaries from  a  Christian  country  are  a  neces- 
sity in  the  commencement,  the  heathen  are  to 
be  brought  to  Christ  mainly  through  a  native 
ministry.  And  hence,  how  important  is  the 
work  of  the  seminaries  at  Rangoon,  Toungoo, 
Bassein,  and  elsewhere,  in  which  young  men 
are  trained  for  the  work  of  preaching  the  gos- 
pel to  their  own  countrymen ! 


No.  VII. 

MISSION    IN   HENTHADA. 

Geography.  —  Beginning  of  the  Mission.  —  The  Way  prepared.  —  How 
the  Work  grew. — The  First  Karen  Church  of  Henthada.  —  The 
Communion  of  Saints.  —  Thoughts  of  a  Karen  Preacher  on  Mis- 
sions. —  How  they  prayed.  —  Trials  and  Progress.  —  Death  of  Mr. 
Thomas.  —  Place  of  Mr.  Thomas  supplied.  —  Karen  Churches 
helping  themselves.  —  Karen  Liberality.  —  The  Barman  Work  in 
Henthada.  —  Death  of  Mr.  Douglass.  — Female  Helpers.  —  Native 
Efforts.  —  Death  of  Mr.  Crawley.  —  Return  of  Mrs.  Thomas  to 
Burmah.  — Vacation  Employments.  —  Conclusion. 

HENTHADA  is  a  large  town  on  the  Irra- 
waddy,  about  a  hundred  miles  above 
Rangoon,  Burmah,  and,  at  the  commencement 
of  missionary  operations  there,  had  a  population 
of  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  Burmans  and  Ka- 
rens. 

After  the  second  Burmese  war.  Southern  Bur- 
mah was  annexed  to  the  British  dominions. 
Henthada,  lying  within  that  district,  was  very 
soon  adopted  as  a  missionary  station ;  and  mis- 
sionaries arrived  there  in  October,  1853.  The 
first  missionaries  were  Rev.  B.  C.  Thomas  for 
the  Karen  department,  and  Rev.  A.  R.  R.  Craw- 
ley for  the  Burman,  —  fit  men  for  such  an  en- 
terprise :  the  first,  thoroughly  consecrated  to 
Christ  and  to  his  work,  like  a  flame  of  fire  in  the 

93 


94  MISSION  IN  HENTIIADA. 

service  of  his  Master,  ardent,  impulsive,  and  at 
the  same  time  patient,  determined,  persevering, 
and  full  of  love ;  the  second,  decided,  brave, 
devout,  tender,  never  flinching  from  danger, 
persistent,  willing  to  endure  self-denial,  and 
sternly  pursuing  the  path  of  duty. 

There  were  a  few  Christians  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  field,  at  that  time  and  for  years 
afterwards,  connected  with  the  missions  in  Ran- 
goon and  Bassein.  Mr.  Crawley,  the  missionary 
in  the  Burmese  department,  had  been  in  the 
country  but  five  months,  and  possessed,  of  course, 
but  the  most  limited  acquaintance  with  the  lan- 
guage. There  was  not  a  Burman  Christian  in 
Henthada,  nor  in  any  part  of  the  district.  The 
missionary  to  the  Karens  was  aided  only  by 
three  young  and  inexperienced  Karens  from 
Tavoy  and  Mergui ;  but  they  had  commenced 
a  work  for  Christ  and  their  fellow-men,  and  they 
were  not  to  be  intimidated. 

On  his  first  arrival  in  Henthada  Mr.  Thomas 
was  thronged  by  visitors  from  all  parts  of  the 
district,  who  seemed  to  be  sincere  inquirers  for 
the  way  of  life ;  but  in  the  end  it  appeared  that 
they  were  only  moved  by  curiosity,  or  the  hope 
of  worldly  advantage.  From  the  beginning, 
however,  there  were  a  few  humble  Karens  whose 
hearts  the  Lord  touched,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
first  year  there  were  about  twenty  baptized  dis- 
ciples in  different  parts  of  the  field.  They  were 
mostly  the  poor  of  this  world,  and  taken  from 
obscure  regions.  In  his  first  tour  of  observa- 
tion through  the  district,  Mr.  Thomas  reports 
that  "  one  Burman  Christian  crept  into  our  tent, 


HOW  THE   WORK  GREW.  95 

and  told  us  tremblingly  and  in  a  whisper,  for 
fear  of  his  countrymen,  that  he  was  a  Christian, 
and  had  been  one  for  thirty  years." 

In  the  Burman  department  there  were  no  na- 
tive Christians  who  could  be  spared  from  the 
stations  already  established ;  and,  with  the  im- 
perfect knowledge  of  the  language  which  Mr. 
Crawley  possessed,  for  the  first  three  months 
little  missionary  work  could  be  accomplished. 
At  the  end  of  that  time,  an  appeal  to  Prome 
brought  a  native  Burman  preacher,  who  was 
afterwards  pastor  of  the  Prome  church. 

The  work  of  the  mission,  thus  begun,  was 
destined  to  be  an  onward  work.  A  true  con- 
vert is  not  born  to  be  silent :  the  first  impulse 
is  to  "go  and  tell  how  great  things  Jesus  has 
done  for  him."  The  spirit  of  missions  may  be 
marred  by  misconceptions,  checked  by  selfish- 
ness, crushed  by  evil  example  or  the  want  of 
help,  but  it  is  nevertheless  the  first  breath  of 
life  of  every  true  believer.  Taking  advantage 
of  this  principle  of  the  renewed  heart,  and  of 
the  Divine  plan  for  the  diffusion  of  Christianity, 
the  missionaries  encouraged  two  of  the  first 
converts  to  go  from  house  to  house,  and  tell 
what  they  knew  of  the  way  of  life,  and  give 
tracts  to  such  as  were  willing  to  receive  them. 
In  some  places  they  were  met  by  refusal ;  in 
others,  by  scorn  and  reproach  ;  but  being  reviled 
they  reviled  not  again,  and  thus  gave  the  hea- 
then of  Henthada  a  practical  exemplification  of 
the  spirit  of  the  gospel  which  they  had  embraced. 
At  the  end  of  ten  years,  the  mission  was  able  to 
report  seventy-five  Burmans  baptized  from  the 


96  MISSION  IN  HENTHADA. 

beginning  of  the  mission,  with  one  ordained 
pastor  and  four  Hcensed  preachers  of  the  gospel. 
God  had  not  left  himself  without  witness :  his 
word  had  not  returned  unto  him  void. 

In  the  Karen  department  of  the  mission, 
besides  preaching  the  gospel  as  extensively  as 
possible  in  the  entire  district,  a  normal  school 
was  organized  at  the  station  at  the  beginning, 
and  continued  every  rainy  season.  From  this 
school  have  gone  forth  nearly  all  the  pastors 
and  teachers  who  have  been  the  principal  agents 
in  carrying  forward  the  work  of  evangelization 
in  the  district  of  Henthada.  Help  has  been 
raised  up  from  time  to  time  for  the  support  of 
this  school,  indicating  the  most  striking  interpo- 
sition of  Providence.  A  Karen  church  was  or- 
ganized in  December,  1854,  twenty  miles  south 
of  Henthada,  three  of  the  members  of  which 
had  been  baptized  ten  years  before  ;  and  through 
their  instrumentality  eight  others  had  been 
brought  to  Christ.  The  first  church  in  the 
town  of  Henthada  was  organized  in  April,  1855, 
consisting  of  nine  members ;  the  third  church 
in  the  mission  was  formed  about  seven  miles 
distant,  the  same  month,  numbering  thirteen 
members  ;  and  from  that  period,  year  after  year, 
the  churches  have  been  steadily  multiplying,  — 
streams  in  the  wilderness,  fountains  in  the 
desert,  making  the  waste  places  to  blossom  as 
the  garden  of  the  Lord.  The  first  female  bap- 
tized in  the  mission  died  in  the  faith  in  i860. 
For  seventeen  years  they  have  been  gathering 
in  the  throng  of  the  glorified,  and  their  revered 
and  beloved  pastor  among  them.     The  first  na- 


THE   COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  97 

tive  Karen  preacher  was  ordained  in  Henthada 
in  April,  1855,  and  stationed  in  a  neighboring 
village.  In  the  early  stages  of  the  mission  Mr. 
Thomas  had  a  school  of  twenty  native  Karen 
assistants,  which  was  very  successful,  and  con- 
tinued from  year  to  year  every  rainy  season.  In 
this  school  the  missionary  became,  for  the  time 
being,  a  theological  professor :  he  mingled  in 
intimate'  social  intercourse  with  his  helpers, 
solved  their  difficult  questions,  taught  them 
how  to  interpret  the  word  of  God,  and  to  rebut 
the  arguments  of  the  abettors  of  idolatry.  At 
the  end  of  the  first  year  the  Henthada  mission 
included  eight  churches  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  members. 

The  people  have  been  accustomed  to  make 
great  account  of  the  annual  meetings  of  the 
Association.  In  1859  the  Association  with 
which  the  churches  of  Henthada  district  are 
connected  held  a  session  of  four  days  and  a 
half,  devoting  all  that  period  to  religious  ser- 
vices and  the  business  of  the  Association.  The 
members  lived  in  more  than  thirty  different 
places  ;  and  such  a  season  of  religious  worship 
and  Christian  communion  must  have  had  the 
happiest  influence  in  binding  together  the  hearts 
of  the  disciples,  and  stimulating  them  to  Chris- 
tian activity. 

The  last  meeting  of  the  Henthada  Associa- 
tion which  Mr.  Thomas  attended  while  he  re- 
sided at  Henthada  is  worthy  of  notice.  It  was 
in  some  respects  an  occasion  of  rare  interest. 
Four  or  five  nationalities  were  present ;  and 
religious    services    were    conducted    in    three 


98  MISSION  IN  HE  NTH  A  DA. 

languages.  During  the  session  of  three  days, 
upwards  of  sixty  letters  were  read  from  the 
churches  and  new  fields  ;  and  there  were  at 
least  six  sermons,  besides  devotional  meetings. 
Subjects  of  interest  to  the  people  were  dis- 
cussed, and  plans  formed  for  future  labor.  The 
circular  letter,  written  by  one  of  the  native 
preachers,  was  one  of  the  features  of  the  occa- 
sion. It  breathed  an  ardent  missionary  spirit, 
and  showed  how  well  the  writer  had  learned  to 
catch  the  ideas  and  to  adopt  the  sentiments  and 
character  of  the  devout  teacher  to  whom  he 
owed  all  that  he  knew  of  Christ  and  the  gospel. 
The  letter  was  all  his  own,  the  missionary 
merely  calling  his  attention  to  the  subject.  In 
the  spirit  of  Carey's  inquiry  in  England  when 
the  missionary  flame  was  first  lighted,  and  of 
Judson  and  Samuel  J.  Mills  in  America  when 
the  first  trumpet-call  was  sent  forth,  arousing 
the  churches  to  their  duty  to  a  perishing  world, 
this  Christian  pastor,  but  just  emerged  from 
the  midnight  of  pagan  gloom,  proposed  in  his 
letter  to  discuss  the  question.  What  can  we  do 
now  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  t  The 
following  heads  of  thought  were  suggested  :  — 

1.  We  ought  to  present  a  holy  example  before 
the  heathen. 

2.  We  should  love  each  other. 

3.  We  should  put  forth  efforts  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  heathen. 

4.  We  should  earnestly  pray  for  their  conver- 
sion. 

At  the  close  of  the  meetings, — a  season  of 
special  solemnity,  —  before  action  on  the  letter 


TRIALS  AND  PROGRESS.  99 

was  taken,  Mr.  Thomas  remarked  on  the  one- 
ness of  God's  people,  and  how,  on  this  theme,  a 
document  just  issued  in  America  had  advo- 
cated the  same  ideas ;  as  if  the  Holy  Spirit  had 
taken  in  charge  the  minds  of  Christians  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  globe,  and  was  leading 
them  alike  to  conclusions  involving  an  early  and 
grand  advance  against  the  powers  of  darkness, 
and  in  favor  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  At  the 
close  of  his  remarks,  the  whole  assembly  bowed 
down  their  heads,  —  the  Karens  bowing  down 
theirs  to  the  very  ground,  —  and  prayed  together 
that  God  would  revive  his  work.  That  was  a 
scene  for  angels  to  admire,  and  fit  to  move  the 
heart  of  every  Christian.  Would  that  all  the 
supporters  and  friends  of  missions  living  on  this 
side  of  the  ocean  could  have  witnessed  it !  A 
revival  followed,  in  answer  to  that  prayer,  in 
the  place  where  the  Association  met,  and  in  six 
or  eight  other  places  besides.  Converts  were 
afterwards  multiplied  in  many  directions ;  and 
Mr.  Thomas  reported  that  an  extended  tour 
which  he  made  among  the  people,  a  few  months 
later,  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  pros- 
perous he  had  enjoyed  since  his  connection 
with  the  mission. 

In  December,  i860,  a  great  fire  occurred  in 
Henthada,  and  the  Burman  mission-house  and 
chapel  were  consumed.  All  the  members  of 
the  church  save  one,  and  she  a  poor  widow,  lost 
their  houses  and  nearly  all  their  property. 
Thus  judgment  was  mingled  with  mercy,  and 
the  brethren  were  taught  the  necessity  of  stay- 
ing themselves  upon  God. 


lOO  MISSION-  IN  HENTHADA. 

For  twelve  or  thirteen  years  Mr.  Thomas  was 
the  efficient  and  energetic  head  of  the  Karen 
department  of  the  Henthada  mission.  Under 
his  labors  and  those  of  his  associates,  it  had 
been  built  up  from  its  feeble  commencement 
till  it  had  gained  ability,  numbers,  and  strength. 
The  churches  were  about  sixty  in  number,  and 
the  communicants  not  much  less  than  two  thou--- 
sand,  with  a  native  pastor  over  every  church, 
supported  in  great  part  by  their  own  members. 
A  primary  school  in  every  village  trained  the 
younger  children  of  all  the  disciples  in  the  ele- 
mentary principles  of  knowledge  and  religion. 
The  normal  school  gave  instruction  to  ad- 
vanced pupils,  and  prepared  teachers  for  the 
village  schools,  and  educated  a  small  band  of 
Christian  young  women  to  be  fitting  wives  for 
the  young  preachers,  and  enlightened  and  pious 
mothers  for  the  coming  generation.  The  school 
for  native  assistants  in  the  rains  did  noble  ser- 
vice as  a  kind  of  local  theological  seminary,  aid- 
ing the  pastors  to  be  more  efficient  in  their 
work,  and  more  wise  as  winners  of  souls.    . 

The  first  ten  years  of  a  new  missionary  cen- 
tre are  of  unspeakable  importance  in  determin- 
ing the  future  methods  and  completion  of  the 
work ;  and  it  was  for  this  period  that  Mr. 
Thomas  was  everywhere  with  his  active  spirit, 
shaping  wisely  the  whole  plan  of  the  mission. 
But  just  then  his  health,  which  had  become 
broken  by  the  continuous  toil  of  sixteen  years 
in  a  tropical  climate,  seemed  imperiously  to 
demand  a  change.  Much  was  to  be  hoped  for 
from  a  visit  to  his  native  land.     But  could  he  be 


DEATH  OF  MR,    THOMAS.  loi 

spared  from  Henthada  ?  Could  he  be  spared 
from  Burmah  ?  Just  then  an  important  emer- 
gency arose  in  the  churches  of  Bassein  district. 
A  missionary  of  experience,  knowledge,  and  effi- 
ciency was  needed  to  fill  a  vacancy  there ;  and 
it  was  proposed  that  Mr.  Thomas  should  an- 
swer the  call.  Possibly  a  removal  to  a  point 
nearer  the  sea  might  bring  him,  in  his  enfeebled 
state,  new  vigor.  Broken  as  he  was  by  disease 
and  excessive  labor,  he  went,  took  up  the  work, 
and  carried  it  forward.  But  soon  he  was  com- 
pelled to  flee  to  this  country.  He  hoped  to 
reach  land,  and  to  tread  again  his  native  soil  ; 
and  he  experienced  a  momentary  exhilaration 
in  the  prospect.  But  as  the  vessel  neared  the 
shores  of  New  York  he  faltered,  and  then  rap- 
idly declined.  He  had  scarcely  breathed  again 
his  native  air,  when  the  weary  frame,  prema- 
turely worn  out  by  exhausting  labor,  gave  way, 
and  he  was  translated  into  heaven.  His  re- 
mains were  taken  to  Boston ;  funeral  services 
were  performed  over  them  in  the  church  where 
he  was  ordained  and  set  apart  to  his  work,  years 
before ;  and  then  devout  men  carried  him  to  his 
burial.  His  mortal  part  rests  in  the  missionary 
lot  of  the  Missionary  Union  in  Newton,  Mass. 
He  was  a  most  devoted  and  earnest  missionary, 
never  sparing  himself,  if  he  might  only  labor  for 
the  heathen.  He  was  emphatically  the  father 
of  the  Karen  department  of  the  Henthada  mis- 
sion, and  the  people  looked  up  to  him  with  filial 
reverence  and  affection.  He  travelled  exten- 
sively in  his  wide  field,  baptized  many  hun- 
dreds, and  seemed  to  live  in  an  almost  perpet- 


I02  MISSION  IN  HENTHADA. 

ual  revival.  Surely  he  must  have  been  received 
into  heaven  with  the  plaudit,  "  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of 
thy  Lord." 

Mr.  Thomas's  place  in  the  Henthada  mission 
was  at  once  assigned  to  Rev.  D.  A.  W.  Smith, 
who  carried  forward  the  work  for  the  next  seven 
years  with  like  zeal  and  devotion.  Mr.  Smith 
had  spent  some  time  in  Rangoon,  in  the  absence 
of  Dr.  Binney,  as  an  instructor  in  the  Karen 
Theological  Seminary.  Here  he  had  met  many 
young  preachers  from  the  Henthada  and  other 
districts,  and  learned  to  appreciate  the  feelings 
and  the  necessities  of  the  pastors,  and,  through 
them,  of  the  churches.  Hence  in  this  new  ser- 
vice he  was  eminently  fitted  to  visit  and  con- 
firm the  churches  in  the  dry  season,  and  to  give 
instruction  to  the  Karen  pastors  in  the  rains. 
He  entered  upon  the  work  with  natural  gifts 
and  attainments  qualifying  him  for  its  peculiar 
duties,  and  gained  the  confidence  and  esteem  of 
the  pastors  and  churches. 

In  the  year  1869  every  chapel  and  every 
native  assistant  connected  with  Henthada  was 
supplied  gratuitously  with  a  copy  of  the  entire 
Scriptures  in  Karen.  In  1870  the  missionary 
in  charge,  ever  anxious  to  extend  the  work  and 
to  develop  in  the  disciples  self-reliance,  proposed 
to  them  to  form  a  Home  Mission  Society,  to 
look  after  the  general  interests  of  the  entire 
field.  On  making  the  suggestion,  it  was  found 
that  several  of  the  pastors  were  already  con- 
templating the  importance  of  such  a  movement. 
The  suggestion  was  therefore  carried  into  effect. 


THE  BURMAN  WORK  IN  HENTHADA.    103 

and  the  measure  was  fraught  with  blessing  to 
the  church  and  people. 

In  the  year  1871  Mr.  Smith  made  special 
efforts  to  stimulate  the  Karens  to  increased 
liberality,  and  enjoyed  therein  a  measure  of 
success.  The  people  themselves  seconded  his 
efforts.     Mr.  Smith  writes  :  — 

"At  our  last  Association  the  proposition,  originating 
with  the  Karens  themselves,  was  made,  to  make  weekly 
pice  collections.  It  was  concluded  that  if  every  disciple 
—  man,  woman,  and  child  —  should  give  one  pice  each, 
every  Sunday,  it  would  amount  at  the  end  of  the  year  to 
Rs.  I, GOO,  and  more.  It  was  also  suggested  that  they 
ought  not  to  diminish  their  ordinary  contributions,  inas- 
much as  a  pice  a  week  was  by  itself  too  small  a  sum  to 
keep  account  of.  The  annual  tithe-collections  ought  still 
to  prove  as  large  as  ever.  I  have  great  hopes  for  this 
weekly  pice  movement.  The  moral  effect  of  opening  the 
heart  a  little  every  week  cannot  fail  to  be  a  blessing. 
There  is  no  creaking  to  the  door  which  is  in  constant 
use,  nor  will  there  be  any  croaking  among  those  who 
habitually  give. 

"  The  Home  Mission  Society  connected  with  the  mis- 
sion, at  their  meeting  in  May  last,  resolved  to  build  a 
large  dormitory  for  the  town  normal  school,  to  cost 
upwards  of  Rs.  3,000.  The  building  is  to  be  erected  by 
degrees,  according  to  the  funds  in  hand.  Last  July, 
money  enough  had  come  to  buy  the  posts,  which  were  to 
be  brought  from  forests  fifty  miles  from  Henthada." 

After  trying  this  method  one  year,  it  proved 
so  successful  and  so  popular  that  at  the  next 
Association  it  was  resolved  unanimously  to 
make  it  a  custom  in  the  Henthada  field. 

Returning  to  the  Burman  work  in  Henthada 
district,  we  find  that  in  1867  Mr.  Crawley  re- 
moved to  Bassein  on  account  of  the  impaired 
health  of  his  wife,  and  Mr.  Douglass  took  his 


I04  MISSION  IN  HE  NTH  AD  A 

place  and  work  in  Henthada.  A  plan  of  the 
employments  of  a  Sabbath  in  midsummer  (July 
15)  at  Henthada  shows  that  the  delicacy  of  the 
home  land  is  scarcely  yet  developed  among  the 
Christians  of  the  tropics  :  — 

"  The  Sunday  service  of  that  date  consisted  of  a  sun- 
rise prayer-meeting  for  the  male  members  in  the  school- 
room, for  the  females  in  the  missionary's  house.  As  a 
rule,  every  member  of  the  church  is  present,  and  all  take 
part.  At  ten  o'clock  Sunday  school,  at  eleven  preach- 
ing; preaching  again  at  five,  usually  followed  by  confer- 
ence and  prayer.  '  For  any  person  who  is  a  professor  of 
religion,  to  be  unable  or  unwilling  to  lead  in  prayer,  would 
be  to  a  Burman  incomprehensible.'  On  every  evening 
of  the  week  there  was  a  meeting  for  prayer  or  preaching 
in  some  part  of  the  town,  at  some  of  which  meetings 
recently  large  numbers  of  the  heathen  were  present, 
listening  with  respectful  attention." 

After  a  year,  Mr.  Crawley  felt  compelled  to 
revisit  America,  and  Mr.  Douglass  returned  to 
his  old  field  in  Bassein,  leaving  the  Burman 
work  to  such  aid  and  counsel  as  could  be 
afforded  by  the  Karen  missionary  in  Henthada. 
But  the  work  of  Mr.  Douglass  was  of  brief  du- 
ration. He  died  in  July,  1869.  His  character 
was  approved  by  many  years  of  laborious  and 
fruitful  service.  His  genial  spirit  endeared  him 
to  his  associates,  and  his  Christian  integrity 
commended  him  to  their  confidence.  He  gave 
himself  and  his  substance  to  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions. His  memory  will  long  be  fragrant  among 
his  fellow-laborers  and  among  the  heathen. 

Mr.  George,  sent  out  by  the  Christians  of  the 
British  Provinces  in  America,  joined  the  station 
at  Henthada  in    1871.     As   Mrs.   Thomas  and 


DEATH  OF  MR.    CRAWLEY.  105 

Miss  De  Wolfe  gave  efficient  aid  in  the  Karen 
department,  so  Miss  Adams,  like  a  true  mission- 
ary, entered  into  the  work  in  the  Burmese  de- 
partment, teaching  with  vigor,  intelligence,  and 
enthusiasm.  Later,  Misses  Watson  and  Payne 
entered  into  the  same  work. 

In  1 87 1  the  native  preachers  undertook  a  new 
effort  to  carry  the  gospel  to  every  part  of  the 
town.  The  city  was  divided  into  six  districts, 
one  of  which  was  allotted  to  each  preacher,  as 
the  field  to  which  he  was  to  devote  his  special 
efforts ;  and  at  evening  a  meeting  was  held  to 
report  the  labors  of  the  day,  and  for  special 
prayer  for  all  cases  of  marked  interest.  The 
result  of  these  efforts  was  very  happy. 

The  year  1872  was  one  of  unusual  prosperity 
and  of  severe  trial.  More  baptisms  occurred 
in  this  department  than  in  any  preceding  year. 
During  a  most  interesting  preaching-tour  to  a 
place  remote  from  Henthada,  six  thousand  tracts 
were  given  away,  and  ten  thousand  at  least  heard 
the  gospel,  many  of  whom  doubtless  received  a 
distinct  impression  of  the  way  of  salvation.  A 
few  seemed  earnest  and  thoughtful.  Some  pro- 
fessed to  believe  in  Christ.  None  of  the  audi- 
tors can  probably  again  plaice  unshaken  confi- 
dence in  Buddhism. 

Shortly  after  occurred  the  death  of  Mr.  Craw- 
ley. He  was  the  founder  of  the  Burman  Mis- 
sion in  Henthada.  He  revisited  this  country 
twice, — first  on  account  of  his  family,  and  again 
on  account  of  the  disease  which  finally  termi- 
nated his  life.  He  was  a  most  unsparing  and 
effective  worker  among  the  heathen,  judicious, 


Io6  MISSION  IN  HENTHADA, 

earnest,  persevering,  and  faithful.  He  built  wise- 
ly, and  attained  marked  success.  He  was  in 
the  field  twenty-one  years,  and  his  labors  pro- 
duced larger  numerical  results  than  those  of  any 
other  person  devoted  to  Burman  evangelization. 
He  died  in  the  vigor  of  his  usefulness,  at  the 
early  age  of  forty-five. 

In  1874  Mrs.  C.  B.  Thomas  returned  to  Bur- 
mah  to  resume  the  work  interrupted  by  the 
death  of  her  lamented  husband.  Soon  after  her 
return,  a  native  Christian  one  day  said  to  her, 
*'  Why  do  the  missionaries  spend  so  much  time 
on  us  Christians }  We  have  been  receiving 
instruction  these  many  years.  We  have  the 
Bible,  and  many  of  us  can  read  it.  But  in  many 
districts  there  are  multitudes  of  heathen  who 
know  nothing  of  the  truth.  They  need  to  be 
preached  to  a  great  deal  more  than  we  do. 
Now,  I  think  the  missionaries  had  better  leave 
us  alone  a  little  while,  and  see  what  they  can  do 
for  the  heathen."  Mrs.  Thomas  was  impressed 
by  these  words.  She  gathered  the  thirty-nine 
preachers  of  her  district  together.  She  told 
them  of  the  fifty-six  thousand  heathen  of  the  dis- 
trict, who  were  utterly  ignorant  of  the  gospel. 
She  planned  to  have  each  pastor  take  with  him 
at  least  one  helper,  and  so  have  the  entire  district 
visited  and  exhorted.  The  plan  was  adopted, 
and  a  large  number  of  the  preachers  agreed  to 
devote  three  months  to  this  evangelistic  work. 

Mr.  Smith  and  nineteen  Karen  young  men,  of 
the  higher  classes  in  the  theological  school  at 
Rangoon,  devoted  part  of  their  vacation  to  trav- 
elling and  preaching  in  the  north-western  por- 


CONCLUSION.  107 

tion  of  the  district,  in  January,  1877,  offering 
the  refreshing  waters  of  the  gospel  among  the 
heathen  villages  and  hamlets. 

The  latest  report  showed  50  churches  ;  1,790 
members;  ordained  preachers,  12;  unordained, 
40 ;  pupils  in  schools,  436.  All  these  are  Ka- 
rens. Members  of  the  Burman  churches,  254. 
Two  new  Karen  churches  were  formed  last 
year,  one  three  and  the  other  four  days  journey 
from  the  nearest  of  the  older  churches  ;  and 
two  native  pastors  were  ordained. 

The  Henthada  Mission  has  been  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  fruitful  of  all  the  fields  in 
Burmah.  Whether  we  contemplate  the  char- 
acter and  efforts  of  the  laborers,  the  number  of 
converts,  the  successful  training  of  the  churches, 
the  blessing  of  God  which  has  attended  the 
work,  or  the  promise  of  a  useful  and  vigorous 
future,  we  see  cause  for  congratulation  and 
hope.  Such  a  history  is  a  renewed  exemplifica- 
tion of  the  statement  of  the  Evangelist  Mark, 
*'  And  they  went  forth,  and  preached  everywhere, 
the  Lord  working  with  them,  and  confirming  the 
word  with  signs  following." 


No.  VIII. 

BASSEIN   MISSION. 

Geography  of  Bassein.  —  The  Mission  begun.  —  The  First  Telegram. 
—  Grown  out  of  the  Arracan  Mission.  —  Early  Days  of  the  Mis- 
sion. —  Woman's  Work  in  Missions.  —  Progress  of  the  Mission.  — 
First  Burman  Church  in  Bassein.  —  The  Way  prepared.  —  An 
Interesting  Couple.  —  The  Work  done.  —  The  Karen  Work  in 
Bassein.  —  Part-Singing  by  the  Christians.  —  How  to  support 
Pastors  of  Weak  Churches.  —  Benevolent  Giving.  —  Education  in 
Bassein.  —  The  Work  advancing.  —  Ko  Thahbyu  Memorial  Hall. 

I 

BASSEIN  is  the  name  both  of  a  town  or 
central  point  and  of  a  district.  The  town 
lies  about  as  far  to  the  west  of  Rangoon  as 
Maulmain  to  the  east  of  it.  The  Bassein  dis- 
trict is  8,900  square  miles  in  area,  —  consid- 
erably larger  than  the  State  of  Massachusetts. 
The  population  of  the  district  is  about  275,000; 
of  whom  about  177,000  are  Burmans,  and  about 
84,000  Karens.  In  the  town  of  Bassein  there 
are  not  less  than  35,000  Burmans.  The  Karens 
are  the  mountain  tribes,  and  fill  with  their  lit- 
tle villages  all  the  surrounding  hills. 

Mr.  Beecher  began  his  labors  among  the 
Karens  in  this  district  in  1846,  Messrs.  Abbott 
and  Van  Meter  in  1848,  and  Mr.  Douglass  in 
1854.     Messrs.    Beecher   and    Abbott    devoted 

themselves  to  the  Sgau  Karens,  Mr.  Van  Metei 
108 


GROWN  OUT  OF  THE  ARRACAN  MISSION.    109 

to  the  Pwo  Karens,  and  Mr.  Douglass  to  the 
Burmans.  These  early  missionaries  to  Bassein 
have  all  finished  their  labors,  and  passed  on  to 
their  reward.  In  succeeding  years  the  follow- 
ing missionaries  have  been  connected  with  the 
station  at  Bassein,  besides  several  female  mis- 
sionaries :  Rev.  Benjamin  C.  Thomas,  *  1867  ; 
Rev.  A.  R.  R.  Crawley,  1867,  both  since  de- 
ceased ;  Rev.  C.  H.  Carpenter,  1868  ;  Rev.  Mel- 
vin  Jameson,  1870;  Rev.  H.  M.  Hopkinson, 
1871  ;  Rev.  S.  T.  Goodell,  1873.  In  connection 
with  the  designation  of  Mr.  Carpenter  to  Bas- 
sein, it  is  interesting  to  note  that  his  location 
in  that  field  was  directed  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee through  a  despatch  sent  by  the  Atlantic 
cable,  —  the  first  telegram  ever  sent  to  any  of 
our  Asiatic  missions,  but  the  exigency  of  the 
case  seemed  to  justify  the  expense.  The  de- 
spatch consisted  of  eight  words,  and  cost  about 
sixty  dollars.  It  reached  Rangoon  the  third  day 
from  Boston,  and  was  at  once  sent  to  Bassein, 
where  the  Burmah  Baptist  Missionary  Conven- 
tion was  earnestly  discussing  the  very  subject 
to  which  it  related.  It  ministered  instant  relief, 
and  brought  diverse  opinions  into  harmony.  All 
said  it  was  of  the  Lord.  A  friend  of  missions 
called  shortly  afterwards  at  the  Rooms  in  Bos- 
ton, and,  learning  the  exigency  which  induced 
the  Committee  to  incur  the  charge  of  sending, 
the  despatch,  at  once  paid  the  expense  from 
his  own  pocket,  as  stated  in  a  previous  history. 
The  Bassein  Mission  has  its  roots  in  the 
mission  to  Arracan.  From  the  day  when  Mrs. 
Comstock   said,    with   streaming   eyes,    as   she 


no  BASSE  IN  MISSION. 

contemplated  her  great  sacrifice,  "  O  Jesus,  I 
do  this  for  thee,"  the  self-sacrifice  bore  fruit, 
—  what  abundant  fruit,  let  the  Bassein  Mission 
testify.  The  Bassein  Mission  began  in  the  con- 
version of  the  Karens  who  crossed  the  moun- 
tains from  Burmah  into  the  English  province  of 
Arracan,  where  they  found  protection,  and  from 
which,  having  been  baptized,  they  recrossed  to 
their  native  hills,  carrying  with  them  the  gospel 
of  Christ.  First  Sandoway,  and  then  Bassein, 
became  their  spiritual  centre.  The  Lord  Jesus 
never  allows  a  sacrifice  for  him  and  his  cause 
to  be  without  its  fruits. 

When  the  mission  in  Arracan  took  the  name 
of  the  Sandoway  Mission,  in  1849,  there  were 
four  missionaries — three  for  the  Sgau  Karens, 
and  one  for  the  Pwos  —  and  forty-four  native 
assistants.  More  than  five  thousand  Karens 
had  been  baptized,  and  seven  or  eight  hundred 
had  passed  on  to  join  the  midtitudes  of  the 
saved  out  of  every  nation  in  their  songs  of 
praise  to  God  and  the  Lamb.  There  were 
twelve  chapels,  each  capable  of  accommodating 
several  hundred  hearers,  and  nearly  twenty  of 
an  inferior  order.  Forty  native  assistants  were 
receiving  instruction  from  Mr.  Abbott.  Day- 
schools  had  been  established  in  nearly  every 
village ;  and  a  rare  spirit  of  liberality  prevailed 
in  the  native  churches,  —  some  of  them  sup- 
porting their  pastors  without  assistance  from 
abroad.  These  Karen  churches  were  the  first 
to  develop  the  principle  of  self-support. 

In  1850  Mr.  Abbott  made  two  attempts  to 
enter  Burmah  Proper,  which  were  frustrated  by 


W03IAN'S    WORK  IN  MISSIONS.  iii 

the  influence  of  governors  on  the  route.  The 
time  had  not  yet  come,  but  it  was  drawing 
near.  Large  numbers  of  young;  men  crossed 
the  mountains,  seeking  instruction.  The  Bur- 
mese war  of  1852  opened  the  way  for  new 
changes,  both  in  the  poUtical  and  rehgious  con- 
dition of  Burmah.  Bassein  was  occupied  by 
the  Enghsh  ;  another  portion  of  Burmah  was 
ceded  to  Great  Britain  ;  and  the  missionaries, 
Messrs.  Abbott  and  Van  Meter,  who  had  been 
long  watching  and  waiting  for  the  opportunity, 
entered  Bassein  in  July,  1852,  taking  possession 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The 
seat  and  the  name  of  the  Sandoway  Mission 
were  changed,  and  the  Bassein  Mission  became 
known  thenceforward  as  the  centre  of  the  most 
extensive  evangelizing  work  among  the  Karens 
in  all  Burmah.  At  the  commencement,  some 
Burman  kyoungs,  or  priests'  residences,  were 
fitted  up  for  a  chapel,  school,  and  mission- 
house  ;  and  thus  the  institutions  of  the  heathen 
were  made  subsidiary  to  the  work  of  overthrow- 
ing the  superstitions  which  they  had  helped  to 
sustain. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  first  disciple 
baptized  in  Sandoway,  in  1843,  was  converted 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Mrs.  Abbott.  In 
the  whole  history  of  missions,  woman's  work  has 
held  a  place  of  distinguished  honor.  Women 
have  often  been  the  pioneers  both  in  propa- 
gating and  accepting  the  gospel.  It  has  been 
so  from  the  beginning.  The  station  at  Chum- 
merah,  once  the  seat  of  a  flourishing  church  of 
ninety-one  members  in  the  days  of  Dr.  Judson, 


1 1 2  BASSE  IN  MISSION 

never  had  a  male  missionary.  A  brave  sister, 
Miss  Cummings,  lived  and  labored  there  alone, 
and  gathered  jewels  for  Christ's  crown,  and 
died  ;  and,  though  the  church  was  afterwards 
scattered  by  the  removal  of  its  members,  the 
record  of  her  work  is  in  the  history  of  mis- 
sions, and  is  registered  on  high.  The  Burman 
catechism,  prepared  by  Mrs.  Judson,  and  trans- 
lated into  Siamese,  was  the  beginning  of  the 
work  in  Siam.  The  first  convert  baptized  in 
Amherst,  consecrated  as  the  scene  of  the  death 
of  Mrs.  Judson,  was  a  Burman  female,  in  April, 
1827.  The  first  baptism  in  connection  with  the 
Shan  Mission  was  of  a  Burman  woman.  So  it 
was  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity.  The 
church  in  Samaria  grew,  under  God,  out  of  the 
warm-hearted  zeal  of  the  woman  at  the  well  of 
Sychar.  The  church  in  Philippi,  the  first  on 
the  Continent  of  Europe,  counted  Lydia  of 
Thyatira  as  its  first  member. 

Since  its  foundation  in  1852,  the  mission  in 
Bassein  has  continued  to  be  an  honor  to  the 
cause  of  Christ  axnong  the  heathen,  growing 
constantly  in  extent  and  influence.  Mr.  Doug- 
lass joined  the  station  in  June,  1854,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  an  interval  when  his  health  re- 
quired his  return  to  his  native  land,  did  faithful 
and  efficient  service  for  the  mission  till  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  July,  1869.  His  first 
baptism  administered  in  Burmah,  and  the  first 
ever  witnessed  in  the  city  of  Bassein,  was  of  a 
convert  from  Ramree,  a  fruit  of  the  labors  of 
Mr.  Comstock.  That  missionary  left  behind 
him  a  tract  entitled  "  The    Way   to  Heaven.'* 


THE    WAY  PREPARED.  113 

His  work  was  done,  but  its  influence  lingered 
among  the  living.  The  little  tract  fell  in  the 
way  of  this  Burman  idolater,  and  awakened 
his  interest  and  curiosity,  and  led  him  to  Christ. 
Hearing  that  a  Burman  missionary  had  arrived 
in  Bassein,  he  crossed  the  mountains,  and  trav- 
elled on  foot  a  journey  of  three  hundred  miles 
to  be  baptized.  Soon  afterwards  he  began  to 
preach,  and  continued  in  the  work  till  his  death, 
—  a  period  of  more  than  ten  years. 

When  Mr.  Douglass  first  arrived  in  Bassein, 
so  far  as  is  known,  not  a  single  Burman  Chris- 
tian offered  prayer  to  the  living  God  in  all  the 
province.  During  the  first  five  years,  more 
than  one-half  of  his  missionary  work  was 
among  the  Karens,  sixty-seven  of  whom  he 
baptized.  But  he  also  baptized  nineteen  Bur- 
mans.  In  July,  1859,  a  little  Burman  church 
of  nine  members  was  organized  in  Bassein,  —  a 
spark  amid  the  waters  ;  but  a  beginning,  fol- 
lowed afterwards  by  three  or  four  others  at 
various  points  within  the  district,  from  which, 
as  centres,  the  missionary  could  work  outwards, 
his  influence  radiating  from  these  points  of 
light  into  all  the  surrounding  darkness.  Mr. 
Douglass  travelled  abroad  from  his  different 
centres,  constantly  enlarging  the  sphere  of  his 
labors, 

Mr.  Douglass  found  the  way  in  some  sense 
prepared  before  him.  Most  of  the  Burman 
men  were  able  to  read  and  write.  Few  of  the 
people  seemed  to  have  any  love  or  deep  venera- 
tion for  the  religious  system  in  which  they  were 
brought  up.     A  few  in  almost  every  town  and 


114  BASSE  IN  MISSION. 

village,  burdened  by  a  sense  of  sin  and  dread  of 
its  consequences,  eagerly  received  tracts,  and 
expressed  their  purpose  to  investigate  the 
truth.  The  first  Burman  known  to  have  been 
converted  in  Bassein  was  an  aged  man  who  was 
baptized  in  August,  1859.  Five  months  after- 
wards the  Burman  church  numbered  twelve, 
and  under  other  laborers  in  succession  it  has 
gradually  advanced.  In  1866  there  were  in 
three  chinrches  in  the  district  "jZ  members ; 
in  1869,  loi,  with  six  native  preachers  ;  in  1874, 
109;  in  1877,  the  church-list  having  been  re- 
vised, and  several  missing  or  removed  members 
being  dropped,  j6. 

Mr.  Jameson  tells  of  the  conversion  of  a 
man  and  his  wife,  the  only  converts  in  a  Bur- 
man village  visited  by  him  in  a  jungle-tour  in 
1873.  This  couple,  at  the  close  of  the  rice- 
harvest,  came  to  Bassein  to  worship  at  the 
great  pagoda.  As  a  thank-offering,  the  man 
gave  a  rupee  (fifty  cents)  for  the  gilding  of  the 
pagoda,  this  being  an  act  of  merit.  Returning 
to  his  boat,  he  found  moored  beside  it  the  boat 
of  a  Burman  Christian,  who  was  at  Bassein  for 
the  purpose  of  attending  the  Burman  Associ- 
ation. The  man  was  persuaded,  with  his  wife, 
to  attend  the  meetings,  conversed  with  the 
missionaries  and  the  native  brethren,  and,  as  it 
seemed,  then  and  there  accepted  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  by  a  living  faith.  A  week  later, 
the  missionary  visited  them  in  their  village, 
and  gave  them  religious  instruction,  which  they 
received  gladly.  One  of  the  neighbors  reported 
that  the  man  had  been  preaching  ever  since  he 


THE    WORK  DONE,  115 

came  home.  They  visited  the  missionary  again 
and  again,  always  confirming  the  evidence  of 
their  conversion,  and  at  length  they  asked  to  be 
baptized.  They  were  encouraged.  But  their 
own  village  was  the  proper  place.  It  was  fitting 
that  they  should  renounce  the  devil  and  all  his 
works,  and  put  on  Christ,  in  the  presence  of 
those  who  knew  them.  When  Mr.  Jameson 
visited  their  village  to  inquire  concerning  them, 
the  evidence  was  more  satisfactory  than  ever. 
The  man  had  been  reading  the  Scriptures,  and 
showed  that  he  was  becoming  familiar  with 
them.  The  wife  listened  to  her  husband,  and 
gave  evidence  that  she  shared  the  same  faith. 
The  missionary  asked,  **  Does  the  village  know 
that  this  man  is  a  disciple.''  "  The  answer  was, 
*'The  whole  township  know  it."  There  were 
indications  that  the  neighbors  had  been  in- 
structed, if  not  convinced,  by  the  preaching  of 
this  disciple  ;  and  it  was  a  glad  day  when  he  and 
his  believing  wife  were  baptized  into  Christ. 
By  preaching,  by  keeping  the  Sabbath,  by  read- 
ing the  Bible,  and  by  Christian  living,  they  will 
undoubtedly  lead  many  others  to  the  sinner's 
Refuge. 

The  amount  of  time  devoted  to  the  Burman 
work  in  the  district  of  Bassein,  and  the  earnest 
and  faithful  labors  of  the  missionaries  and 
native  assistants,  is  astonishing.  In  two  or 
three  villages,  in  the  year  1872,  a  native 
preacher,  supported  almost  wholly  by  native 
contributions,  visited  or  revisited  540  houses, 
conversed  religiously  with  1,397  individuals, 
and  distributed  600  or  700  tracts.     In  the  city 


Ii6  BASSEIN  MISSION. 

of  Bassein,  the  same  year,  two  native  preachers 
spent  most  of  their  time  in  going  among  the 
heathen  with  the  message  of  the  gospel,  and 
made  report  of  their  work  every  week  to  the 
missionary.  From  this  report,  it  appears  that 
they  spent  283  days  in  preaching  the  gospel 
from  house  to  house,  visited  959  houses,  and 
had  2,977  listeners,  of  whom  661  received  tracts, 
and  375  refused  to  do  so.  In  addition  to  the 
labors  of  the  missionary  and  native  assistants 
is  the  work  of  the  Bible-women,  and  the  female 
missionaries  sent  out  by  the  Woman's  Mission- 
ary Societies  of  the  United  States.  From  such 
diligent  seed-sowing,  how  can  there  fail  to  be  a 
glorious  harvest  t 

The  work  among  the  Karen  people  of  Bas- 
sein, however,  is  the  main  feature  of  the  mis- 
sion in  this  district.  The  early  successes  of 
the  gospel  here,  the  efficient  training  of  the 
disciples,  and  the  numerous  converts, — consti- 
tuting a  wide-spread  Christian  community, — 
the  assembling  at  this  point  of  so  many  neces- 
sary agencies  for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
missionary  work  —  all  contribute  to  give  special 
interest  to  the  Karen  Mission  of  Bassein.  In 
the  year  1848,  there  were  more  than  four  thou- 
sand baptized  believers,  and  as  many  more 
nominal  Christians,  in  connection  with  the 
Sandoway,  and  its  successor,  the  Bassein  Mis- 
sion, with  thirty-six  churches,  forty-four  native 
preachers,  and  more  than  four  hundred  pupils 
in  schools.  Day-schools  existed  in  nearly  every 
village,  and  the  native  Christians  were  greatly 
interested  to  sustain  the  institutions  of  the  gos- 


THE  KAREN  WORK  IN  BASSEIN.        1 1  7 

pel  in  their  own  neighborhoods.  Forty  native 
preachers  were  supported  at  an  expense  of  only- 
three  hundred  dollars  to  the  Missionary  Union. 
In  1853  four  native  preachers  were  ordained. 
During  the  Burmese  war  of  1852,  the  work  was 
much  retarded ;  but  after  a  year  or  two,  the 
missionaries  reported  sixty-three  Karen  preach- 
ers and  assistants,  and  at  a  meeting  of  forty 
preachers  it  was  voted  "  to  expend  no  more 
money  of  the  American  brethren."  There 
were  schools  in  forty-three  villages,  and  913 
pupils  were  reported.  So  much  had  the  native 
preachers  grown  in  efficiency  and  power,  as 
well  as  knowledge,  that  in  1856  the  Association 
had  a  native  moderator. 

This  year  was,  however,  a  year  of  calamity. 
A  fire  destroyed  the  mission-houses,  March  16, 
by  which  Messrs.  Douglass  and  Van  Meter  lost 
every  thing.  Mr.  Beecher  left  the  mission  for 
a  season,  and  the  Sgau  Karen  department  was 
left  without  an  American  head.  But  the  gospel 
had  taken  too  deep  root,  and  its  power  was  too 
widely  diffused,  to  permit  any  disaster  to  have 
more  than  a  temporary  influence  upon  its  pros- 
perity. In  the  first  half  of  the  year  1857,  two 
hundred  and  twelve  converts  had  been  baptized, 
and  the  native  Home  Missionary  Society  sup- 
ported from  six  to  twelve  home  missionaries  ; 
and,  moved  with  a  desire  to  carry  the  gospel  to 
**the  regions  beyond,"  three  native  preachers 
were  sent  by  them  on  a  journey  of  exploration 
among  the  Karens  to  the  north  of  Ava.  In 
November,  1859,  ^  semi-annual  meeting  of  the 
Association  was  attended  by  six  hundred  com« 


Il8  BASSE  IN  MISSION. 

municants,  forty  pastors,  and  twenty  other 
preachers ;  and  twelve  were  appointed  to  carry 
the  message  of  salvation  to  other  fields.  In 
1862  the  system  of  monthly  contributions  was 
adopted  by  the  churches  of  Bassein.  The  new 
worshippers  reported  were  double  the  number 
reported  the  preceding  year,  and  the  total  of 
church-members  reached  the  grand  sum  of 
5,793.  In  1866  there  were  among  the  Pwc 
Karens  of  Bassein  district,  upwards  of  forty 
Christian  villages,  with  a  population  of  eleven 
hundred  avowed  Christians,  of  whom  six  hun- 
dred had  been  baptized.  The  pastors  are  said 
to  have  manifested  an  encouraging  advance- 
ment from  year  to  year,  and  a  growing  famil- 
iarity with  the  forms  and  usages  of  ecclesias- 
tical life.  "The  greater  part  of  their  church 
letters,"  says  a  missionary,  "would  have  done 
credit  to  an  Association  in  any  State  in  our 
land.  At  the  Association  in  1868,  the  attend- 
ance was  nearly  or  quite  one  thousand,  and 
there  was  no  flagging  of  interest  during  the 
session.  The  report  of  the  amount  of  work 
done  for  the  heathen  by  the  preachers  and 
others  was  surprising  and  encouraging.  So 
many  were  the  places  visited,  and  the  interest- 
ing facts  related,  that  two  evening  sessions,  con- 
tinued till  a  late  hour,  were  not  sufficient  to  hear 
all  the  reports." 

In  1870  Mr.  Carpenter,  having  entered  upon 
his  work  in  Bassein,  found  much  to  correct  and 
improve,  and  some  things  to  be  commenced  for 
the  welfare,  of  the  churches.  Among  other 
things  he  introduced  part-singing,  of  which  the 


BENEVOLENT  GIVING.  119 

Karens  proved  to  be  very  fond,  and  which  was 
of  essential  use  in  aiding  to  substitute  Christian 
entertainments  and  recreations  for  heathen  fes- 
tivities. Mr.  Carpenter  is  an  excellent  musician, 
and  by  a  little  instruction  in  the  principles  of 
music  he  was  able  to  render  the  Karen  disciples 
very  creditable  and  independent  singers  :  many 
of  the  Karens  have  very  sweet  voices.  Many 
friends  of  missions  will  recollect  the  beauty 
of  the  hymn  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  rendered  into 
Karen,  as  sung  in  several  of  the  American 
churches  by  Mr.  Vinton  and  his  Karen  convert, 
Kone  Louk. 

The  friendly  spirit  with  which  the  Karens  of 
Bassein- district  support  their  pastors  is  worthy 
of  all  praise.  During  a  season  of  pressure  in 
i860,  it  was  announced  at  the  Association  that 
the  treasury  at  home  was  crippled,  and  the  Karen 
pastors  could  not  expect,  for  the  present,  any 
aid.  One  of  the  pastors  said  it  was  no  matter; 
the  Lord  would  provide.     Another  said,  — 


"  I  was  very  anxious,  and  went  home  much  cast  down. 
Pretty  soon  one  of  the  church-members  was  looking 
around  in  my  house,  and  saw  that  the  salt-jar  was  nearly 
empty ;  next  day  he  came,  and  filled  it.  Not  long  after 
one  of  the  sisters  observed  that  the  mats  were  getting 
old  and  ragged,  and  said  the  teacher  must  certainly  have 
some  new  mats ;  and  the  mats  came.  And  so  it  was  : 
there  was  no. lack;  paddy,  fish,  clothes,  and  every  thing 
that  we  really  needed,  were  supplied  as  abundantly  as 
before.  And  how  was  it  about  the  preaching  ?  Before, 
we  were  not  dependent  on  the  churches ;  we  were  sent 
and  paid  by  the  missionary.  We  felt  our  importance,  and 
put  on  airs ;  but  after  this  we  could  not  help  loving  our 
people,  and  working  for  their  souls." 


I20  BASSE  FN  mission: 

This  was  a  pastor's  reasoning  on  benevolent 
giving,  when  the  question  of  supporting  Karen 
schools  was  discussed :  — 

"  If  we  think,  in  the  season  of  cultivating  our  crops, 
that  we  will  not  throw  our  one  basket  of  rice  away  by 
casting  it  into  the  water  and  mud,  we  shall  keep  our  one 
basket,  but  it  will  not  increase' any.  But  if  we  trust  God, 
and  sow  it,  it  will  increase  twenty  or  forty  fold.  So,  too, 
with  what  it  costs  to  educate  our  children.  Let  us  not 
withhold  it :  it  gives  a  better  crop  than  does  our  paddy 
field.  I  know,  my  brethren,  many  of  you  are  very  poor. 
I  know  just  how  you  feel  as  the  mamma  and  others  are 
urging  you  to  do  more  for  your  schools.  When  we  Sgaus 
were  first  thinking  of  our  English  school,  many  of  us 
thought  it  could  not  be  done.  For  a  long  time  I  was  one 
of  those  who  thought  it  would  not  do  to  take  away  the 
milk  from  the  goat.  But  we  attempted  it.  We  tried,  and 
see  what  God  has  wrought  for  us." 

The  work  of  education  has  been  urged  for- 
ward with  great  vigor  in  Bassein,  and  the  im- 
portance and  value  of  intellectual  training  have 
been  steadily  kept  before  the  minds  of  the  native 
Christians.  A  large  number  of  the  young  men 
who  study  for  the  ministry  in  the  theological 
seminary  at  Rangoon  go  from  the  Bassein 
churches.  The  Normal  and  Industrial  Insti- 
tute, the  Female  Seminary,  the  village  schools, 
and  the  instruction  imparted  to  the  native 
preachers  who  do  not  go  for  an  education  to 
Rangoon, — all  of  them  looking  to  the  higher 
cultivation  of  the  people,  —  do  much  to  lift  the 
veil  of  ignorance  from  the  public  mind,  and  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  grander  triumphs  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  Napoleon  once  remarked, 
"France  needs  mothers  more   than  any  thing 


THE    WORK   ADVANCING.  121 

else."  In  the  schools  of  Bassein,  under  so  effi 
cient  teachers  as  Mrs.  Carpenter  and  her  coad- 
jutors, undoubtedly  Burmah  will  find,  trained  up 
for  her  need.  Christian  mothers,  whose  teaching, 
transmitted  through  their  offspring,  will  be  a 
mine  of  treasure  and  a  crown  of  glory  to  the 
Burman  empire. 

And  the  demand  for  the  further  diffusion  of 
truth  through  the  Christian  teacher  is  still  heard. 
A  missionary  says,  — 

"  From  every  part  of  the  district  comes  up  the  call  of 
those  who  wish  to  learn  of  Jesus.  We  are  sending  out 
our  young  students  during  their  vacations,  and  longing 
for  the  day  when,  their  work  of  preparation  finished, 
they  shall  give  their  time  unreservedly  to  answer  these 
many  calls.  One  of  the  most  experienced  pastors  said 
to  me  a  few  days  since,  '  I  think  tlie  Lord's  time  to  bless 
the  Pwo  Karens  has  come,  —  the  season  for  which  we 
have  been  praying  ever  since  we  knew  about  Jesus,  when 
everywhere  our  brethren  and  relatives  are  asking  to  know 
about  our  religion.'  " 

The  latest  statistics  give  the  following  view 
of  the  present  condition  of  the  Bassein  Mission : 
Missionaries,  9 ;  churches,  85  ;  native  preachers, 
143;  church-members,  7,418;  pupils  in  schools, 
1,743  ;  Pwo  Karens,  present  number,  908. 

In  1876  the  Karen  Home  Mission  Society  of 
Bassein  supported  nineteen  evangelists  among 
the  heathen  during  the  greater  part  of  the  trav- 
elling season,  —  a  larger  number  than  for  many 
years  previous.  Fourteen  men  were  employed 
to  travel  and  preach  among  the  hills  around 
Bassein.  Four  or  five  communities  asked  for 
Christian  teachers. 

Three  Karen  preachers  were  ordained  in  i  Zyj. 


122  BASSEIN  MISSION. 

Twenty  missionaries  were  on  the  roll  of  the 
Home  Mission  Society,  of  whom  two  were  sent 
to  labor  among  the  heathen  Karens  of  Prome 
district. 

A  foreign  mission  was  commenced  from 
Bassein  among  the  Ka-Khyens,  a  people  a  thou- 
sand miles  distant.  Two  volunteers  were  sent 
out,  engaged  for  two  years'  service. 

On  the  i6th  of  May,  1878,  the  "Ko  Thahbyu 
Memorial  Hall "  was  dedicated  to  the  purposes 
of  advanced  education  among  the  Karen  Chris- 
tians. The  dedication  was  on  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  baptism  by  the  sainted  Board- 
man  of  Ko  Thahbyu,  whose  aged  widow  and 
surviving  son  were  present  on  the  festive  occa- 
sion. 

As  a  fitting  close  to  these  notices,  we  take 
the  following  from  a  recent  annual  report :  — 

"  The  larger  proportion  of  the  churches  are  a  source 
of  rejoicing  to  all  who  love  the  cause  of  missions.  The 
pastors  settled  over  the  churches  are  doing  their  work, 
for  the  most  part,  with  intelligence,  zeal  for  the  truth,  and 
loving  fidelity  towards  the  people.  The  churches  and 
pastors  of  this  district  furnish  a  signal  example  of  what 
the  gospel  can  do  among  a  poor,  debased,  and  ignorant 
race.  Witness  only  the  stated  and  orderly  religious  ser- 
vices, the  neat  chapels  erected  by  the  people,  the  school- 
houses  built,  the  pastors  and  teachers  supported,  the 
books  purchased,  the  civil  order  and  personal  thrift  of 
the  numerous  villages,  and  the  general  prosperity  of  the 
populations  among  whom  these  institutions  are  planted, 
and  you  will  have  a  striking  proof  of  what  the  gospel 
effects,  when  once  it  gets  a  firm  hold  of  an  ignorant  and 
helpless  people." 


No.   IX. 

SHWAYGYEEN   MISSION. 

Geography  of  Shwaygyeen. —  Beginning  of  the  Mission. — Early 
Successes.  —  Reinforcement.  —  Without  a  Missionary.  —  **0  that 
the  Missionary  would  return  !  "  —  Mr.  Harris  re-appointed.  —  How 
they  received  him.  —  Vicissitudes  in  Missions.  —  Death  of  Native 
Preachers.  — Native  Benevolence,  —  Native  Christians  in  Death.  — 
New  Helpers.  —  Burman  Department  begun.  —  The  Latest  Intel- 
ligence. —  Conclusion. 

SHWAYGYEEN  is  at  the  junction  of  the 
Shwaygyeen  River  with  the  Sitang.  It  is 
south  of  Toungoo,  and  north-east  of  Rangoon. 
An  English  steamer  runs  between  Rangoon 
and  Toungoo,  passing  Shwaygyeen,  and  bring- 
ing it  into  connection  with  places  above  and 
below  on  the  river.  By  Burman  boat,  the  old 
method  of  transition,  three  or  four  days  were 
consumed  in  the  journey. 

Shwaygyeen  was  first  mentioned  in  mission- 
ary journals  Feb.  5,  1833,  more  than  twenty 
years  before  it  was  adopted  as  a  missionary  sta- 
tion. Two  men  from  that  place  visited  the 
mission  at  Maulmain,  and  asked  for  tracts. 
How  they  learned  that  there  was  a  mission,  or 
tracts,  or  that  the  star  of  Bethlehem  had  arisen 
in  the  east,  we  are  not  informed.  Divine  Provi- 
dence has  its  own  ways  of  working,  and,  when 

123 


1 24  SIIJVA  YG  YE  EN  MISSION: 

the  set  time  is  come,  finds  no  difficulty  in 
accomplishing  the  grandest  results. 

The  mission  here  was  commenced  in  Septem- 
ber, 1853,  by  Rev.  Norman  Harris,  who  had 
labored  as  a  missionary  among  the  Karens  in 
and  around  Maulmain  and  the  vicinity  since  his 
arrival  in  Burmah,  about  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1847.  The  Karen  church  was  formed, 
and  the  first  baptism  occurred  in  November, 
1853, — seven  Karens  and  one  Shan,  the  first- 
fruits  of  his  tribe,  putting  on  Christ  by  an  open 
profession,  and  becoming  the  nucleus  of  a  great 
body  of  believers  to  be  afterwards  gathered  in. 
But  the  work  commenced  in  trial,  and  the  soil 
of  Shwaygyeen  was  very  early  made  the  sacred 
deposit  of  missionary  dust.  In  ten  days  after 
these  eight  converts  had  been  planted  together 
in  the  likeness  of  Christ's  death,  Mrs.  Harris 
finished  her  course,  and  received  her  crown. 
But  Shwaygyeen  was  taken  possession  of  for 
Christ. 

And  the  work  went  on.  During  the  first  six 
months  after  the  mission  was  commenced,  fifty- 
one  were  baptized,  and,  during  the  first  year, 
five  hundred  and  seventy-seven  —  of  whom  more 
than  five  hundred  received  the  ordinance  at  the 
hands  of  one  ordained  native  preacher.  In  the 
same  year  six  Karen  churches  were  formed, 
which  were  organized  Jan.  20,  1855,  as  the 
"Great  Stone  Association."  These  churches 
were  trained  from  the  beginning  to  the  duty  of 
self-support ;  and  five  of  them  at  this  time  sus- 
tained their  own  pastors. 

Mr.  Harris  thus  far  had  labored  alone,  aided 


WITHOUT  A  MISSIONARY.  125 

only  by  the  native  assistants  who  had  accom- 
panied him  from  Maulmain.  But  in  Octobei, 
1855,  Rev.  George  P.  Watrous  joined  the  sta- 
tion. His  missionary  life  was  of  short  dura- 
tion. His  health  soon  failed;  and  in  i860  — 
scarcely  five  years  after  he  began  his  work  —  he 
was  compelled  to  flee,  and  returned  to  this 
country.  The  mission,  at  the  outset,  had  been 
mainly  intended  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
Sgau  Karens.  But  there  were  many  Burmans 
who  needed  equally  the  message  of  eternal  life, 
and  Mr.  Watrous  was  directed  in  1858  to  com- 
mence a  Burman  department.  Mr.  Harris  re- 
signed his  ofifice  as  a  missionary  of  the  Union 
that  same  year,  and  Mr.  Watrous  was  requested 
also  to  superintend  the  Karen  department. 
About  a  year  after  Mr.  Watrous  joined  the 
mission,  another  affliction  fell  upon  it.  The 
second  Mrs.  Harris,  formerly  Miss  Miranda 
Vinton,  was  suddenly  stricken  down  by  fever, 
and  died  at  Shwaygyeen,  Sept.  9,  1856,  aged 
forty-seven  years.  She  was  appointed  a  mis- 
sionary in  June,  1841,  and  had  proved  herself  a 
most  efflcient  worker  till  her  death. 

The  mission  was  now  left  for  a  season  with- 
out an  American  head,  and  almost  wholly  in 
the  charge  of  Karen  assistants.  Dr.  Mason  of 
Toungoo,  however,  was  requested  to  exercise 
such  watch-care  over  the  churches  as  his  distant 
residence  and  the  necessary  demands  of  his 
own  work  would  allow,  Mr.  Harris  also  made 
occasional  visits  to  his  old  field  until  1862, 
when  he  returned  to  the  United  States.  In 
July,    1 86 1,    a    native    preacher   was    sent    to 


126  SII WA  YG  YE  EN  MISSION. 

Shwaygyeen  from  Maulmain ;  and  in  1863  a 
French  brother,  Mr.  Simon  La  Chapelle,  who 
had  entered  the  service  of  the  mission,  was  sta- 
tioned as  an  assistant  in  the  Karen  work  at 
Shwaygyeen. 

During  this  interval  the  work  of  the  mission 
was  still  growing.  In  January,  1865,  the  num- 
ber of  persons  reported  baptized  the  previous 
year  was  19;  churches,  18,  with  one  new  church 
added  the  previous  year ;  whole  number  of 
members,  946 ;  pupils  in  schools,  62.  And 
among  the  contributions  for  specific  purposes 
was  a  donation  of  nearly  one  hundred  dollars, 
to  aid  in  paying  the  expenses  of  Mr.  Harris's 
return  to  his  field.  The  members  were  pain- 
fully alive  to  their  forsaken  condition,  and  ear- 
nestly desired  the  return  of  Mr.  Harris,  who  had 
promised  to  go  back,  if  God  should  favor  his 
plahs.  The  Karens  remembered  his  promise, 
and,  by  frequent  letters,  reminded  him  of  the 
hope  so  long  deferred. 

The  following  letter,  from  the  pen  of  one  of 
the  native  pastors,  is  a  touching  testimony  to 
the  feelings  of  the  Christians  of  Shwaygyeen ;  — 

"  Beloved    Brethren   of  Other  Countries  and  Cities,  in 
Every  Place. 

"  I  desire  to  write  you  a  few  words  about  the  disciples 
of  Christ  in  Shwaygyeen.  To  every  one  who  may  see 
this  letter  we  would  say,  Bear  with  us,  and  pray  to  God 
our  Lord  for  us  ;  for  we  here  in  Shwaygyeen  have  no 
missionary  teacher  to  instruct,  encourage,  or  help  us,  as 
they  have  in  other  places. 

"  We  are  like  orphans,  bereft  of  father  and  mother, 
left  desolate,  sleepy,  and  hungry.  In  other  words,  we 
are   like   the  wounded  and  fallen,  without  a  physician. 


MR.   HARRIS  RE-APPOTNTED.  127 

The  reason  of  sorrow  is  this :  During  the  year,  some 
have  apostatized  from  the  truth  of  the  living  God,  and 
returned  to  the  customs  of  their  forefathers.  Some 
have  become  unstable,  ard  are  ^vavering  and  restless, 
like  the  waves  of  the  sea.  Therefore,  beloved  brethren, 
in  every  place,  bear  with  us,  and  help  us  by  your  prayers. 
Teacher  Cross,  of  Toungoo,  does  all  he  can  for  us,  and 
through  him  (or  by  his  favor)  we  receive  New  Testa- 
ments and  hymn-books. 

"  During  the  year  1865,  we  have  been  consulting  how  to 
get  back  our  beloved  teacher  Harris  from  America.  We, 
the  disciples  of  Shwaygyeen,  have  collected  two  hundred 
rupees  towards  paying  the  passage  of  teacher  Harris. 
Therefore,  dear  brethren  and  sisters  in  every  place, 
great  and  small,  male  and  female, have  pity  upon  us,  pray 
for  us,  and  assist  us  to  get  back  our  teacher. 

(Signed)  Teacher  Pah  Moo." 

In  July,  1865,  Mr.  Harris  was  re-appointed 
by  the  Executive  Committee  to  labor  at  Shway- 
gyeen. He  had  labored  there  for  many  years. 
He  justly  regarded  many  of  the  converts  as  his 
children  in  the  common  faith  ;  and  they  in  turn 
regarded  him  as  their  spiritual  father. 

In  October,  1865,  Mr.  Cross,  of  the  Toungoo 
Mission,  on  his  way  to  attend  the  Convention 
in  Rangoon,  spent  a  Sabbath  at  Shwaygyeen. 
He  found  a  good  congregation.  All  who  at- 
tended seemed  interested  ;  and  it  was  said,  that, 
notwithstanding  they  had  been  so  long  without 
adequate  pastoral  supervision,  there  were  no 
irregularities  in  the  church  at  Shwaygyeen,  and 
the  churches  in  the  district  around  were  in  a 
good  and  wholesome  condition. 

It  was  on  the  7th  of  March,  1866,  that  Mr. 
Harris,  after  several  years'  absence,  returned  to 
his  station,  and  was  warmly  welcomed  by  the 


1 28  SHWA  YG  YE  EN  MISSION 

people.  They  had  not  heard  of  his  arrival  in 
Rangoon,  and  his  coming  to  Shwaygyeen  was  a 
genuine  surprise.  ^ At  the  Ministerial  Confer- 
ence, held  a  week  afterwards,  he  had  the  privi- 
lege of  meeting  the  four  ordained  pastors,  be- 
sides others  connected  with  the  station  at 
Shwaygyeen.  They  met  him  as  children  meet 
a  father  who  has  been  long  away.  They  told 
him  of  the  trials  and  the  joys  of  their  work,  the 
clouds  and  the  sunshine  that  had  been  over 
their  path.  He  found  that  no  new  churches 
had  been  organized  during  his  absence ;  but  in 
some  places  the  work  was  full  of  promise,  and 
the  fields  white  to  the  harvest.  At  the  meet- 
ing of  the  pastors,  the  opinion  was  expressed 
by  some  one,  that  two  assistants,  each  with  an 
associate,  going  "  two  and  two,"  ought  to  itine- 
rate among  the  heathen,  making  known  the  way 
of  salvation  through  a  crucified  Saviour.  In- 
stantly the  purpose  was  formed.  Two  were 
chosen.  They  obtained  travelling  associates, 
and  went  forth  among  their  heathen  country- 
men ;  and  the  means  for  their  support  were 
contributed  by  the  churches.  Then  the  neces- 
sity of  a  school  was  spoken  of.  The  mission- 
ary told  them  that  the  Karens  in  Maulmain, 
Rangoon,  Prome,  Henthada,  and  Toungoo,  re- 
ceived aid  for  their  schools  from  the  govern- 
ment. What  did  the  brethren  think  of  asking 
the  aid  of  the  governmei^t  1  One  of  the  or- 
dained pastors  replied  that  he  did  not  want  to 
ask  aid  of  the  government.  "  If,"  he  said,  "  we 
eat  our  own  rice,  we  shall  relish  it  the  better, 
and  have  no  one  to  complain  of  us."     Encour- 


VICISSITUDES  IN  MISSIONS.  129 

aged  by  this  sturdy  expression  of  independence, 
Mr.  Harris  commenced  at  once  to  make  prepa- 
ration for  a  mission-school.  Nine  days  after- 
wards he  received  a  letter  from  a  Karen  in  a 
place  a  hundred  miles  east  of  Shwaygyeen,  say- 
ing, "I  send  Rs.  108-14.  Twenty-seven  Karens 
contributed  Rs.  71-8  ;  thirty-four  Shans  contrib- 
uted Rs.  27-2  ;  seven  Burmans  contributed  Rs. 
10-4:  total,  Rs.  108-14."  Mr.  Harris  had  never 
been  to  the  place  from  which  this  letter  came. 
When  he  went  home  to  America,  there  were 
a  few  Christians  there.  "The  Burmans  and 
Shans,"  he  says,  "are  strangers  to  me,  and  I 
wonder  that  these  Buddhists  should  contribute 
so  liberally  to  aid  me  in  my  mission-work." 

Mr.  Harris  was  gratified  to  find,  on  his  return 
from  America,  that  the  churches  connected  with 
this  mission  had  all,  to  use  his  own  expression, 
"righted  up."  They  were  in  peril  for  a  season 
from  surrounding  influences ;  "  but  now,  to  a 
man,  they  take  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God." 
Fifty-seven  were  baptized  during  the  year.  In 
the  normal  school,  held  during  the  rains,  eight, 
of  the  pupils  were  baptized ;  and  several  others 
had  been  baptized  before  they  became  mem- 
bers of  the  school.  The  school  was  supported 
mainly  by  the  natives. 

The  work  of  missions  is  not  uniformly  pro- 
gressive in  any  one  place.  Just  as  in  the 
churches  at  home,  there  are  seasons  of  spiritual 
refreshing,  and  seasons  of  comparative  stagna- 
tion. Sometimes  in  a  single  year  the  work  in  a 
given  place  makes  marked  advancement,  some- 
times it  scarcely  holds  its  own.     The  causes  for 


1 30  S//WA  YG  YE  EN  MISSION: 

these  variations  at  home  are  clearly  understood ; 
similar  causes  naturally  produce  the  same  effect 
in  the  churches  that  have  been  raised  up  in 
heathen  lands. 

The  only  record  of  the  year  1868  is  that  the 
churches  were  generally  in  a  hopeful  state,  and 
that  one  of  the  pastors  spent  nearly  all  the 
rainy  season  in  a  place  marked  by  a  newly- 
awakened  interest,  where  it  was  hoped  some 
fruit  would  be  gathered  unto  everlasting  life. 
The  number  of  native  preachers  had  increased 
to  twelve,  and  thirty-nine  were  baptized.  The 
total  number  of  church-members,  which  at  one 
time  had  reached  to  nearly  950,  from  year  to 
year  declined  (in  1868  it  was  872),  notwith- 
standing there  were  constant  additions  by  bap- 
tism. This  was  the  result  of  various  causes, 
such  as,  I.  The  want  of  pastoral  supervision. 
2.  The  nomadic  habits  of  the  Karens,  who,  after 
wearing  out  a  field  by  exhaustive  tillage,  re- 
move to  another,  sometimes  a  distant  one,  in 
pursuit  of  a  richer  soil.  3.  The  possible  mis- 
takes made  in  the  reception  of  members,  who, 
in  their  unenlightened  "condition,  seem  to  be 
renewed  in  a  time  of  religious  excitement,  but 
afterwards  fall  away.  These  and  other  causes, 
especially  when  discipline  is  faithfully  admin- 
istered and  the  church  lists  rigidly  cared  for, 
may  produce  large  diminutions  in  the  catalogue 
of  members,  while  the  strength  of  the  church  is 
by  no  means  abridged.  Many,  too,  of  those 
whose  names  fall  out  of  the  lists  may  still  be 
of  the  Lord's  little  ones,  and  may  be  finally 
saved  with  an  everlasting:  salvation. 


NATIVE  BENEVOLENCE.  131 

The  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel  were  carried, 
the  following  year,  by  the  missionary  and  na- 
tive preachers  among  the  heathen  population ; 
and  a  few  converts  were  reported  in  places 
where  no  church  organization  existed.  An  un- 
usually large  number  of  the  heathen  visited  the 
missionary  at  his  home,  and  some  seemed  al- 
most persuaded  to  be  Christians.  Two  native 
preachers  died,  universally  lamented.  One  of 
them  had  a  son  who  received  his  education  in 
America,  and  who,  it  is  hoped,  will  take  his 
father's  place  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  to  his 
countrymen.  The  Christians  contributed  up- 
wards of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  dollars  to 
various  objects  of  benevolence,  besides  what 
they  gave  for  the  support  of  their  own  pastors. 

In  the  year  1870  the  mission  was  again  pain- 
fully bereaved  in  the  loss  of  three  more  native 
preachers.  One  of  these  was  Sau  Dumoo,  the 
pastor  by  whom  five  hundred  converts  were 
baptized  in  the  first  year  of  the  mission.  He 
was  honored,  perhaps,  more  than  any  other 
native  preacher  in  bringing  souls  to  Christ, 
excepting  the  renowned  Sau  Quala,  who  did  a 
still  more  successful  work  at  Toungoo.  His 
ministerial  life  was  without  a  stain,  and  his 
name  will  long  be  held  in  affectionate  remem- 
brance among  the  converts  of  Shwaygyeen. 

The  churches  in  this  mission  seem  to  have 
been  specially  susceptible  to  the  claims  of 
Christian  benevolence,  and  their  influence  has 
been  felt  in  all  the  field  around  them.  In  this 
same  year  the  pastors  and  churches  raised  a 
fund  of  more  than  five  hundred  dollars,  —  three 


132  SHWAYGYEEN  MISSION. 

or  four  of  the  pastors  contributing  twenty-five 
dollars  each,  — "  to  be  used  for  the  cause  of 
Christianity."  The  fund  was  placed  in  charge 
of  a  disbursing  committee,  who  were  to  distrib- 
ute its  avails,  and  also  the  contributions  of  the 
churches,  being  responsible  to  the  Association. 
This  fund  was  raised  over  and  above  the  ordi- 
nary contributions.  The  brethren  wished  to 
live,  as  far  as  possible,  independent  of  foreign 
aid ;  and  the  missionary  wrote  *'  that  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  might  feel  released  of  the 
responsibility  of  making  any  appropriations, 
either  for  the  native  preachers  or  the  schools  of 
this  mission."  The  raising  of  this  fund  origi- 
nated with  the  pastors. 

In  the  year  1871,  still  another  native  preach- 
er, one  of  the  most  promising,  was  removed  by 
death.  His  end  was  peace.  A  few  hours  be- 
fore he  died,  he  said,  *'  I  covet  earth  no  more. 
I  will  go  and  be  with  God." 

This  year  Mr.  Harris  records  an  instance 
which  illustrates  the  power  of  the  gospel,  and 
shows  how  it  operated  on  a  Karen  disciple, 
making  all  things  new.  The  case  was  that  of 
an  aged  man,  who  lived  on  the  mountains,  sur- 
rounded by  idolatry.  A  few  years  previously 
he  heard  the  gospel  from  the  lips  of  a  native 
preacher.  The  seed  took  root  in  his  heart. 
Some  time  afterwards  he  went  to  the  mission- 
ary, and  said  he  had  no  faith  in  the  religious 
worship  of  the  heathen,  and  desired  to  live  with 
the  Christians.  It  was  not  that  he  wanted  the 
loaves  and  fishes,  for  he  was  able  to  support 
himself  and  family.     But  his  desire  was  for  the 


NEW  HELPERS.  1 33 

influence  and  the  society  of  those  who  fear  God. 
From  the  beginning,  he  seemed  to  have  strong 
faith  in  God.  He  readily  received  the  gospel, 
and  delighted  to  make  it  known  to  others ;  and 
he  grew  rapidly  in  the  graces  of  the  Spirit. 
When  his  wife  was  ill  of  small-pox,  instead  of 
abandoning  her  as  the  heathen  do,  he  staid  by 
her,  and  took  care  of  her.  He  took  the  disease 
himself,  and  during  his  sickness  his  daughter 
died.  But  his  faith  was  still  strong  in  God,  as 
the  Being  who  does  all  things  well.  He  recov- 
ered from  the  disease  so  as  to  be  able  to  visit 
the  house  of  God.  But  in  a  few  days  after- 
wards "he  was  not,  for  God  took  him."  The 
missionary  says,  "  Seldom  have  we  seen  one 
who  seemed  to  receive  the  truth  so  readily,  so 
intelligently,  and  to  ripen  so  fast  for  heaven,  as 
he."  This  year  forty-three  were  reported  bap- 
tized.    Total  number  of  members,  854. 

The  year  1872  witnessed  an  advancement  in 
the  work  at  Shwaygyeen.  A  new  laborer  was 
added  to  the  working  force,  in  the  person  of  a 
Karen  young  man  who  had  been  educated  in 
this  country,  a  graduate  of  Madison  University ; 
and  whose  natural  abilities,  culture,  and  consist- 
ent Christian  life  inspired  strong  confidence  in 
him  as  one  who  would  be  an  able  and  success- 
ful preacher  of  the  gospel  to  his  countrymen. 
Many  among  the  heathen,  living  near  the  mis- 
sion, were  found  to  have  lost  their  faith  in 
heathen  ceremonies  and  idolatries,  though  they 
had  not  courage  and  decision  to  come  out  open- 
ly on  the  side  of  Christianity.  Among  the  Bur- 
mans  of  Shwaygyeen  were  also  many  inquirers, 


134  SHWAYGYEEN  MISSION. 

and  many  who,  though  not  inquirers,  were  deep- 
ly interested,  and  eager  to  obtain  Christian 
books. 

The  importance  of  Shwaygyeen  as  a  mission- 
ary centre  has  not  been  over-estimated.  It  is 
an  important  field,  both  for  Burman  and  Karen 
work.  Most  of  the  Karen  churches  are  in  the 
north-eastern  part  of  the  field,  while  the  Karens 
in  the  east  and  south-east  remain  to  be  reached. 
Mr.  Benjamin  P.  Cross,  son  of  the  missionary, 
Dr.  Cross,  of  Toungoo,  was  designated  the  pre- 
ceding year  to  this  field,  to  take  the  place  of 
Mr.  Harris,  who  was  obliged  to  be  absent  again 
for  a  season  from  the  mission.  The  feeling  that 
a  Burman  department  was  a  necessity  in  Shway- 
gyeen had  become  deep  and  abiding ;  and  the 
prospect  of  meeting  this  demand  was  evidently 
ripening,  both  in  the  field  and  with  the  Com- 
mittee at  home.  At  the  Association  held  in  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1874,  the  Karen  young 
man  before  mentioned,  graduate  of  Madison, 
was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  giv- 
ing the  churches  great  comfort  and  hope.  A 
good  teak-wood  chapel  was  built  this  year,  with 
a  vestry ;  and  nearly  the  entire  expense  was 
paid  by  the  Karens  and  Mr.  Harris.  In  De- 
cember, 1874,  Rev.  Henry  Ware  Hale  and  wife, 
both  regular  graduates  of  the  Newton  Theolo- 
gical Institution,  arrived  in  Shwaygyeen,  and 
commenced  the  Burman  department  of  the  mis- 
sion. They  were  accompanied  from  Rangoon 
by  a  native  preacher  and  a  teacher,  and  began 
their  work  by  distributing  tracts  to  the  boatmen 
on  their  passage.     The  head  boatman  often  vis- 


THE  LATEST  INTELLIGENCE.  135 

ited  them  afterwards,  at  their  home,  and  asked 
to  be  baptized.  Six  or  eight  other  Burmans 
were  reported  as  "■  believing  a  little,"  and  ear- 
nestly considering  "whether  these  things  were 
so."  Mr.  Cross  found  that  the  language,  which 
in  his  childhood  he  spoke  as  a  vernacular,  came 
back  to  him  with  great  readiness,  so  that  he  was 
able  to  begin  work  in  the  Karen  field  at  once. 
The  work  of  the  gospel  was  reported  as  slowly, 
but  surely,  spreading  ;  a  new  chapel  was  erected 
in  one  village,  and  a  young  man  from  the  Ran- 
goon Theological  Seminary  was  elected  pastor. 
Another  village  also  began  to  build,  and  still 
another  graduate  from  Rangoon  was  secured  as 
pastor.  A  general  spirit  of  religious  enterprise 
was  manifest. 

In  1875  Mr.  Cross  left  the  station,  to  join  his 
father  and  aid  him  in  the  work  at  Toungoo. 
Mr.  Harris  also  was  obliged  to  return  to  this 
country,  leaving  only  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hale  to  care 
for  both  departments  of  the  mission,  aided  by 
native  assistants.  There  were  35  baptisms  this 
year  ;  total  number  of  members,  804. 

From  the  latest  accounts,  it  appears  that  Mr. 
La  Chapelle  had  resumed  work  at  Shwaygyeen, 
and  Mr.  Hale  had  found  a  promising  helper  in 
a  young  man  baptized  a  year  or  more  ago  in 
Rangoon,  who  is  apparently  a  true  disciple,  and 
eager  to  know  more  of  the  Scriptures.  Some 
others  give  evidence  of  a  sincere  desire  to 
understand  the  gospel,  and  there  were  four  pro- 
fessed inquirers.  The  native  Karen  preachers 
are  faithful  laborers,  doing  diligently  the  work 
of  God.     Mr.  Hale  has  lately  sent  to  this  coun- 


1 3  6  SHWA  YG  YE  EN  MISS /ON. 

try  an  interesting  account  of  the  last  meeting 
of  the  Association,  which  met  in  the  jungle, — 
07ze  family  taking  the  responsibility  of  the  hos- 
pitality to  be  shown  to  all  the  guests.  About 
two  hundred  men,  women,  and  children  were 
present.  Some  of  them  came  two  or  three 
days'  journey  on  foot,  in  order  to  enjoy  the 
meetings,  which  were  conducted  entirely  by 
Karens,  and  well  conducted  too.  Three  or  four 
villages  made  request  for  teachers,  who  were 
sent  to  them  by  the  Associational  Committee. 
The  one  man  who  had  invited  the  guests,  having 
been  burned  out  most  unfortunately  just  before 
the  meetings,  did  not  feel  able  to  provide  for 
their  stay  over  the  Sabbath  ;  and  it  was  therefore 
proposed  to  shorten  the  session.  When  the 
heathen  people  in  the  vicinity  heard  of  it,  they 
brought  in  food  in  abundance,  that  the  meetings 
might  be  continued  ;  and  thus  nearly  all  the  peo- 
ple remained  till  Monday,  enjoying  a  three-days' 
service  of  prayer,  and  preaching,  and  singing, 
and  drawing  near  to  God.  An  increased  num- 
ber of  members  was  reported ;  baptisms  for  the 
year,  57;  whole  number  of  members,  816. 

According  to  the  latest  statistics,  there  are 
5,641  Karens  in  the  Shwaygyeen  district,  of 
whom  816  are  church-members.  The  pupils 
who  attend  school  at  the  station  sometimes 
come  on  foot  a  journey  of  three  or  four  days, 
over  hills  that  are  not  safe  to  be  traversed,  on 
account  of  tigers  and  other  wild  beasts.  It  is 
therefore  not  strange  that  the  schools  are  less 
fully  attended  than  at  other  stations  in  Burmah. 

But  who  can  estimate  the  good  which   may 


CONCLUSION.  137 

result  from  the  seed  which  has  been  sown  in  this 
field  ?  And  who  can  contemplate  this  body  of 
eight  hundred  believers  from  among  the  heathen 
—  a  permanent  influence  for  good  among  their 
countrymen,  year  after  year  —  without  feeling 
that  the  work  is  full  of  promise,  and  calculated 
to  inspire  the  highest  hope  ?  Surely  God  will 
not  suffer  it  to  be  in  vain.  For  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century  Christ  has  been  faithfully  preached 
among  this  people,  in  human  weakness,  but  with 
the  power  of  the  Spirit.  For  that  period  souls 
have  been  gathered,  year  by  year,  into  the 
churches  on  earth,  and  passing  one  by  one  into 
the  church  in  heaven.  And  there  they  are, 
singing  and  shining,  the  fruit  of  the  mission. 
Such  a  work  is  worthy  to  be  continued  and  sup- 
ported ;  and  it  will  be  sustained  by  those  who 
pray,  "Thy  kingdom  come." 


No.   X. 

MISSION   TO   THE   SHANS. 

Locality  of  the  Shans.  —  The  Mission  commenced.  —  The  First  Bap- 
tism. —  Pestilence.  —  Church  formed.  —  Shans  baptized.  —  The 
Mission  reinforced.  —  The  Work  making  Progress.  —  Mr.  Bixby 
leaves  the  Mission.  —  Mrs.  Cushing's  Work.  —  The  Divine  Seal,  — 
The  Mission  removed  to  Rangoon.  —  The  Mission  in  Toungoo 
again.  —  Early  Death  of  Mr.  Kelley.  —  Shan  Caravans.  —  Self- 
Support.  —  Hinderances  in  the  Way.  —  The  Work  in  a  New  Centre. 
—  Concluding  Thoughts. 

THE  Shans  are  first  mentioned  in  missionary- 
history  in  a  letter  dated  Ava,  Feb.  15, 
1834.  It  was  said  that  a  missionary  would  find 
a  wide  field  of  labor  among  them.'  Their  loca- 
tion is  in  north-eastern  Burmah,  in  Toungoo 
district  and  beyond,  in  a  region  named  by  the 
missionaries  Shanland,  bordering  on  Western 
China. 

The  Shan  territory  is  said  by  Dr.  Malcom  to 
be  about  nine  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  its 
greatest  breadth  is  about  four  hundred.  The 
population  is  about  seven  millions.  The  people 
are  composed  of  several  tribes,  and  their  lan- 
guage is  naturally  variant.  Many  of  the  people 
are  travelling  merchants ;  and,  as  they  bring 
their  wares  into  the  larger  cities  of  Burmah,  so 
they  carry  back  not  only  the  commodities  which 
138 


THE  MISSION  COMMENCED.  139 

they  have  need  of,  but  also  more  or  less  of  the 
manners,  the  literature,  and  the  religion,  of  the 
people.  They  are  mostly  Buddhists,  A  recent 
missionary  explorer  says  they  have  long  pos- 
sessed a  literature  of  their  own.  Their  books 
are  numerous,  not  only  in  the  kyoungs,  but  also 
among  the  more  intelligent  class  of  the  people ; 
and  the  majority  of  the  men  are  able  to  read. 

Rev.  Moses  H.  Bixby  was  the  first  missionary 
designated  to  the  Shans.  He  had  formerly  been 
a  missionary  to  the  Burmans  and  Talaings.  He 
was  appointed  in  185 1,  sailed  from  Boston  in 
January,  1853,  returned  to  the  United  States  on 
account  of  the  failure  of  Mrs.  Bixby's  health, 
resigned  his  connection  with  the  Missionary 
Union,  and  was  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Provi- 
dence, R.I.  He  was  re-appointed  a  missionary 
in  i860,  and  designated  to  the  Shan  Mission; 
arrived  in  Rangoon,  March,  1861,  and  proceeded 
at  once  to  Toungoo.  Just  before  Mr.  Bixby's 
arrival,  some  warlike  disturbance  occurred  in 
the  Shan  country,  and  ten  thousand  Shans 
came  in  a  body  to  the  vicinity  of  Toungoo. 
The  British  commissioner  gave  them  lands,  and 
invited  them  to  settle,  seven  miles  away  from 
Toungoo,  on  the  site  of  an  old  town  which  had 
chiefly  disappeared.  Thus  the  people  were 
brought  to  the  missionary :  the  missionary  was 
spared  the  necessity  of  going  in  search  of  the 
people.  More  than  this  :  instead  of  being  com- 
pelled to  pass  through  the  territory  of  hostile 
tribes  to  his  work,  and  at  last  sitting  down  to 
his  toil  among  cruel  men,  deprived  of  the  pro- 
tection of  a  Christian  government,  he  was  per- 


I40  MISSION  TO   THE  SIIANS, 

mitted  to  begin  his  proclamation  of  the  gospel 
under  British  guardianship  and  on  British  terri- 
tory. 

The  first  baptism  was  not  of  a  Shan,  but  of 
a  Burman  woman ;  again,  as  in  the  church  at 
PhiHppi,  the  first  lodging-place  of  the  gospel 
in  Europe,  a  woman  the  first-fruits.  This  bap- 
tism occurred  in  August,  1861  :  the  second  was 
of  a  Burmese  man,  November,  1861 — as  if  the 
missionary  and  the  Committee  meant  one  race, 
but  God  meant  another.  This  man  traced  his 
conversion,  under  God,  to  a  tract  written  by 
Mr.  Ingalls  of  the  Burman  Mission  ;  and  he  had 
enjoyed  in  former  years  the  instructions  of  Mr. 
Comstock,  Mr.  Stilson,  and  other  Burman  mis- 
sionaries long  since  fallen  asleep.  They  sowed 
the  seed ;  and  God  took  care  that  it  should  ger- 
minate, and  grow,  and  ripen  in  his  own  good 
time. 

Before  the  work  of  the  mission  was  thoroughly 
begun,  the  people  were  visited  with  judgment. 
Between  Nov.  5,  1861,  and  Jan.  7,  1872, — a 
period  of  only  two  months,  — five  hundred  Shans 
died  of  small-pox  ;  a  sovereign  God  interposing 
at  the  outset,  and,  as  it  were,  arousing  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people  by  this  terrible  mortality  to 
the  warnings  of  the  missionary  addressed  to  the 
nation  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come. 

In  May,  1862,  four  months  after  this  visitation, 
regular  worship  was  commenced,  and  a  Sabbath 
school  opened.  The  first  Shan  convert  was  the 
son  of  a  chief.  He  was  baptized  in  September, 
1862;  and  on  the  25th  of  this  month  the  first 
Shan  and  Burmese  church  was  organized,  con- 


SHANS  BAPTIZED.  141 

sisting  of  nine  members,  of  whom  three  were 
Shans.  A  Shan  chapel  was  opened  at  a  place 
called  Laukoketaya,  Jan.  18,  1863;  and  the  same 
month  two  Shan  females  —  the  first  female  con- 
verts of  their  race  —  were  baptized.  In  Toungoo 
on  the  first  week  of  the  new  year  seven  converts 
had  been  baptized,  of  whom  five  were  Shans. 
Other  additions  were  made,  **  the  Lord  working 
with  them,"  according  to  his  promise.  In 
March,  1863,  the  church  numbered  thirty  mem- 
bers, partly  Burmans  and  partly  Shans.  Up  to 
the  close  of  1863,  there  had  been  forty-four  bap- 
tisms in  connection  with  the  mission,  and  at 
that  date  there  were  forty-one  communicants. 
There  were  also  four  assistants,  and  two  schools 
with  sixty  pupils  ;  a  mission-house  had  been 
erected,  a  spelling-book  and  vocabulary  was 
ready  for  printing,  and  four  Christian  tracts 
had  been  translated. 

Two  years  later  there  were  three  churches 
and  a  hundred  and  two  members,  ten  chapels 
and  ten  assistants,  ten  primary  schools  and  two 
hundred  pupils,  and  a  training-school  for  native 
teachers  and  preachers.  Most  of  this  work  was 
among  the  wild  mountaineers,  the  Karens,  and 
the  Burmans  ;  but  the  missionary  and  his  as- 
sistants had  preached  the  gospel  extensively  to 
the  Burmans  and  Shans,  made  explorations,  and 
sowed  the  seed  of  Divine  truth  in  many  new  and 
hitherto  unknown  fields.  At  the  same  time  it 
was  the  constant  desire  and  effort  of  Mr.  Bixby 
as  speedily  as  possible  to  press  through  these 
mountain  tribes  to  the  interior  of  Shanland  and 
to  the  borders  of  Western  China,  —  the  distance 


142  HUSSION  TO   THE  SHANS. 

to  the  latter  being  only  about  three  hundred 
miles,  of  which  more  than  one-third  had  already- 
been  traversed. 

Early  in  1867  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  N.  Gushing 
and  Miss  Gage  joined  the.  mission.  During  the 
preceding  year  Mr.  Bixby  had  made  two  touis 
of  exploration  among  a  savage  tribe  called  the 
Saukoos,  where  a  wide  door  of  labor  was  opened 
to  him.  These  people  had  their  residence  near 
one  tribe  of  the  Shans,  and  access  to  the  one 
with  successful  effort  implied  equal  access  and 
successful  effort  among  the  other.  While  mov- 
ing among  these  people  Mr.  Bixby  fell  in  with 
hundreds  of  Shans,  and  had  opportunities  of 
preaching  to  them.  In  many  instances  he  and 
his  assistants  stopped  in  dense  jungles,  and 
made  known  to  multitudes  of  people  the  way  of 
life.  As  a  help  to  his  work,  Mr.  Bixby  obtained 
from  the  kings  of  Burmah  and  Siam  passes  to 
travel  through  their  territories  respectively  in 
Shanland.  These  passes  were  signed  with  the 
royal  signatures,  and  sealed  with  the  royal  seals ; 
and  they  contained  all  that  could  be  asked  for  in 
the  way  of  protection  and  help. 

In  the  middle  of  the  year  1866,  Sau  Ouala, 
the  Karen  preacher,  baptized  at  Toungoo  — 
which  Mr.  Bixby  was  constrained  to  make  the 
headquarters  of  his  mission  —  six  converts,  of 
whom  three  were  Shans.  Two  of  these  were 
orphan  girls,  belonging  to  a  family  which  came 
some  years  before  from  a  distant  place  because 
they  had  heard  that  their  friends  had  found  the 
way  to  heaven,  and  were  happy.  The  gospel 
has  an  attractive  power ;  and  now  in  one  way, 


THE    WORK  MAKING  PROGRESS.  143 

now  in  another,  the  Lord  Jesus  fulfils  his  prom- 
ise, "I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will 
draw  all  men  unto  me." 

In  the  year  1867  it  was  said  that  as  many  as 
thirty  Shans  had  been  baptized,  of  whom  two 
were  preachers,  going  everywhere  among  their 
countrymen,  and  carrying  the  word  of  life."  In 
September  of  that  year  Mr.  Bixby  reported  that 
he  had  baptized  several  more  converts,  —  Euro- 
peans, Burmans,  and  people  of  the  wild  tribes 
in  the  north-east.  In  a  company  of  thirteen 
baptized  on  one  occasion,  two  were  men  of  mark, 
^-the  chief  of  the  district  and  the  chief  of  the 
village.  A  marauding  chief  of  one  of  the  tribes 
whom  Mr.  Bixby  had  visited  nine  months  before 
dreamed  that  the  teacher  had  come,  and  started 
from  his  home  under  the  impression  of  this 
dream,  and  travelled  a  full  day's  journey  to 
meet  him.  A  treaty  of  peace  and  friendship 
was  formed  between  this  chief  and  several 
neighboring  tribes,  the  effect  of  which  would 
be  to  open  up  the  way  to  the  home  of  the 
Shans.  Assistants  were"  laboring  among  all 
these  tribes,  most  of  them  speaking  not  only 
the  Burman,  but  also  several  dialects  of  the 
Shan  language  ;  and  thus  entrance  was  prepared 
for  the  gospel  through  the  medium  of  their  own 
tongue  in  which  they  were  born.  Mr.  Bixby 
wrote  at  this  time,  *'  I  have  never  wavered  in 
my  belief  that  it  is  God's  purpose  to  introduce 
the  gospel  to  the  Shan  tribes  through  these 
mountaineers.  Every  year  the  word  advances, 
and  bids  fair  to  gain  a  foothold  in  Shan  terri- 
tory." 


144  MISSION  TO   THE  SHAN'S, 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gushing  determined  to  study 
at  once  the  Shan  language,  without  the  inter- 
vening study  of  the  Burman ;  and  this  occupied 
most  of  their  energies  for  the  first  year  of  their 
residence  in  Toungoo.  In  November,  1867, 
Mr.  Gushing  varied  this  monotonous  labor  by 
undertaking,  in  company  with  Mr.  Rose,  a  tour 
of  exploration  to  the  north,  intending  to  pro- 
ceed by  the  most  feasible  route  into  the  heart 
of  the  Shan  country. 

In  May,  1868,  Mr.  Bixby  was  compelled  by 
the  state  of  his  health  to  abandon  his  work  in 
Burmah,  and  return  to  this  country,  where  he 
has  since  resided,  a  faithful  and  successful  pas- 
tor a  second  time  in  Providence,  R.I. ;  testing 
the  method  of  labor  to  which  he  had  been 
accustomed  among  the  Karens  in  its  adaptation 
to  congregations  in  Ghristian  America,  and  find- 
ing to  his  joy  that  human  nature  is  essentially 
the  same  in  every  nation,  and  that  faith  and 
prayer,  in  connection  with  the  preaching  of  the 
word,  in  every  clime  alike,  are  God's  appointed 
means  to  bring  men  to  Ghrist. 

Mrs.  Bixby  remained  for  a  time  in  Toungoo, 
and,  in  connection  with  Miss  Gage,  carried  for- 
ward the  work  at  the  station,  as  far  as  possible 
in  the  way  in  which  it  had  been  conducted 
hitherto  by  Mr.  Bixby.  Miss  Gage  maintained 
a  school  with  four  Shan  assistants,  two  male 
and  two  female.  The  pupils  numbered  fifty-six  ; 
and  a  part  of  the  school  building  was  devoted 
to  strangers,  who  in  passing  that  way  often 
went  in  for  a  few  moments,  and  heard  the  word 
of  God. 


THE  DIVINE  SEAL,  145 

In  March,  1867,  Mrs.  Gushing  gathered  a 
school  of  nine  Shan  boys,  all  from  heathen  fami- 
lies, who  learned  under  her  instruction  much 
of  Christ  and  salvation.  She  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  similar  work  in  the  **  Home  for  Little 
Wanderers,"  in  Boston,  before  her  marriage. 
She  loved  the  work,  and  was  successful  in  it ; 
but  owing  to  the  failure  of  her  health,  always 
precarious,  in  the  exhausting  climate  of  Bur- 
mah,  in  a  few  months  the  school  was  necessa- 
rily suspended.  A  Shan  assistant  visited  re- 
peatedly many  of  the  Shan  villages,  talking  to 
the  people,  and  distributing  tracts.  His  visits 
awakened  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  and  a  few  persons 
came  to  the  missionary  to  seek  further  instruc- 
tion concerning  the  way  of  salvation.  A  few 
tracts  were  printed  this  year  in  Shan,  and  put 
in  circulation.  One  man  gave  up  offering  to 
the  priests  and  worshipping  at  pagodas,  and  for 
six  months  was  a  constant  attendant  on  reli- 
gious worship,  and  deeply  interested  in  studying 
the  Scriptures.  At  length  he  declared  that  he 
believed  in  Christ  as  the  true  Saviour,  who 
alone  can  forgive  sin.  He  often  spoke  of  his 
faith,  and  boldly  proclaimed  it  to  his  heathen 
friends. 

Such  instances,  occasionally  occurring,  were 
the  Divine  seal  to  the  work  undertaken,  and 
proved  that  it  was  not  unnoticed  by  Him  who 
commissioned  his  apostles  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature.  How  refreshing  they  must 
have  been  to  the  hearts  of  those  who  had  given 
up  every  thing  for  the  work  of  missions,  and  to 
whom  souls  renewed  were  the  sweetest  reward  ! 


146  MISSION  TO    THE  SHANS, 

In  1868-69,  Mr.  Bixby's  health  being  still  so 
much  impaired  as  to  render  his  return  to  Bur- 
mah  for  the  present  unlikely,  Mrs.  Bixby  joined 
him  in  this  country.  Miss  Gage,  feeling  inade- 
quate to  sustain  the  duties  of  the  station  alone, 
withdrew  to  Rangoon,  and  afterwards  joined 
the  Burman  Mission  in  Bassein.  The  whole 
number  of  churches  connected  with  the  Shan 
Mission  in  Toungoo,  including  Burmans,  Shans, 
and  the  tribes  of  Northern  Karens,  was  five ; 
members,  one  hundred  and  thirty-four ;  assist- 
ants, eleven.  The  same  year  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gushing  made  two  missionary  tours  into  the 
Shan  states,  the  extreme  limit  of  their  journeys 
being  Monai  Gity,  an  important  Shan  centre. 
"Wherever  they  went,  the  people  gathered 
around  them,  and  many  listened  attentively  to 
the  story  of  the  cross.  Several  thousand  tracts 
were  distributed,  and  seed  sown  which,  it  is 
hoped,  may  bear  fruit  in  due  time."  Two  na- 
tive assistants  showed  an  excellent  spirit,  and 
seemed  to  have  at  heart  the  enlightenmerit  and 
salvation  of  their  countrymen. 

In  March,  1869,  Mr.  Gushing  removed  to 
Rangoon,  establishing  that  city,  instead  of 
Toungoo,  as  the  headquarters  of  his  work,  till 
the  way  into  the  Shan  country  should  be  fully 
opened.  Large  numbers  of  Shans  are  found 
in  the  vicinity  of  Rangoon,  their  villages  being 
scattered  here  and  there  within  a  circuit  of  sev- 
eral miles  ;  and  the  Shan  element  in  that  region 
of  country  is  increasing.  Mr.  Gushing  visited 
several  of  these  villages  with  his  native  assist- 
ants,   and   some   interesting    cases    of    inquiry 


THE  MISSION  IN  TOUNGOO  AGAIN.      147 

occurred.  Two  were  baptized,  and  two  pupils 
in  the  school  gave  evidence  of  a  saving  change. 
In  November  of  this  year  Mr.  Gushing  under- 
took another  tour  among  the  Shans  residing  far 
to  the  east  of  the  Salwen  River,  into  regions 
and  among  people  never  before  visited  by  the 
living  missionary.  A  church  was  organized  for 
the  first  time  in  Rangoon,  in  connection  with 
the  Shan  Mission,  and  the  number  of  members 
reported  was  five, — truly,  "  the  day  of  small 
things." 

In  1870,  as  a  measure  of  health  Mr.  Gushing 
removed  again  to  Toungoo,  that  he  might  enjoy 
the  benefits  of  an  elevated  country  and  a  cooler 
and  purer  atmosphere.  This  year  he  devoted 
himself  partly  to  the  work  of  compiling  a  Shan 
dictionary,  — a  ^necessary  work,  as  a  help  to  the 
efficiency  of  future  missionaries,  —  and  partly  to 
tours  among  the  people.  Mrs.  Gushing  also 
commenced  a  school  again  with  a  small  num- 
ber of  Shan  pupils,  besides  visiting  the  people 
extensively,  and  distributing  tracts. 

In  the  year  1871  the  prospects  of  the  mission 
improved.  A  new  missionary  and  wife,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  E.  D.  Kelley,  joined  the  mission.  In 
July  a  Shan  was  baptized  who  gave  promise 
of  great  usefulness,  —  a  highly  intelligent  young 
man,  who  came  out  from  his  heathen  associa- 
tions from  deliberate  convictions  of  the  truth 
of  Ghristianity,  and  the  necessity  of  receiving 
the  pardon  of  sin  through  the  Lord  Jesus 
Ghrist.  He  recognized  the  certainty  of  perse- 
cution ;  but  his  heart  seemed  to  be  fixed,  trust- 
ing in  God.  He  was  made  the  teacher  of  the 
Shan  school. 


148  MISSION  TO    THE  SHANS, 

The  Gospel  of  Matthew  was  printed  this  year, 
thus  giving  the  Shans  in  their  own  tongue  a 
record  of  the  history  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  Friend  of  sinners.  The  Shan  church, 
organized  at  first  in  Toungoo,  had  become  the 
victim  of  many  irregularities.  Some  of  the 
members  had  gone  back  to  idolatry ;  others  to 
the  Romanists ;  and  others  were  living  in  per- 
sistent neglect  of  their  covenant  obligations. 
The  hand  of  discipline  was  called  for,  and 
seven  were  excluded.  Many  villages  were  vis- 
ited during  the  year,  and  regular  worship  in  the 
Shan  dialect  maintained  every  Sabbath,  besides 
a  weekly  prayer-meeting,  and  a  preachers'  Bible- 
class  part  of  the  year.  There  was  also  an  in- 
crease of  prayerfulness  and  of  Christian  activity 
generally.  Candid  listeners  seemed  to  be  giv- 
ing the  truth  a  careful  consideration. 

All  this  looked  encouraging.  Had  the  set 
time  to  favor  this  mission  come }  Was  the 
Lord's  hand  at  last  stretched  out  to  help  and 
to  save  1  Yes,  as  God  sees,  —  but  not  as  man 
sees.  Mr.  Kelley,  who  joined  the  mission  in 
February,  1872,  young,  vigorous,  and  conse- 
crated, had  hoped  for  a  long  life  of  usefulness. 
He  had  already  obtained  such  mastery  of  the 
language  that  he  could  speak  to  the  people,  and 
work  effectively  in  the  school.  On  the  8th  of 
December  he  started  on  an  exploring  tour 
with  Mr.  Gushing  through  Shanland.  On  New 
Year's  morning,  Jan.  i,  1873,  in  an  effort  to 
secure  a  water-fowl  which  he  had  shot  for  their 
breakfast,  he  was  accidentally  drowned,  and 
another  human   life,  in  which  such  hopes  had 


SHAN  CARAVANS. — SELF-SUPPORT.      149 

centred,  and  which  was  so  full  of  promise,  was 
blotted  out.  But  He  who  sees  the  end  from  the 
beginning  understands  it  all.  "  Not  a  sparrow 
falleth  to  the  ground  without  your  Father." 
He  is  able,  while  he  buries  his  workmen,  to 
carry  on  his  work.  The  young  missionary  wore 
his  crown  less  than  a  year  after  he  had  put  on 
the  harness,  and  left  the  honor  of  the  work  to 
others. 

This  year  the  tidings  came,  not  only  that 
tracts  had  been  printed,  but  a  grammar  also. 
Two  of  the  Gospels  were  translated,  and  a  large 
dictionary  compiled,  which  was  receiving  daily 
additions  as  new  words  were  learned  in  inter- 
course with  the  people.  These  were  all  means 
for  facilitating  the  labors  of  all  future  mission- 
aries to  the  people.  Many  caravans  of  Shans 
came  from  their  own  States  to  Toungoo  for 
purposes  of  trade.  These  caravans  were  con- 
stantly visited  by  native  preachers,  who  left 
among  them  a  hundred  and  fifty  copies  of  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew  and  numerous  tracts.  A 
house  was  opened  in  one  of  the  Shan  villages, 
adjacent  to  six  or  seven  others,  and  at  a  great 
camping-place  of  the  Shan  caravans,  where  a 
Shan  preacher  was  stationed,  and  stated  meet- 
ings were  held.  Some  heard  with  attention, 
and  showed  themselves  kindly  disposed.  The 
church,  small  and  feeble  as  it  was,  began 
to  comprehend  the  duty  of  self-support ;  and, 
though  numbering  only  fourteen  members,  con- 
tributed this  year  fifty-two  dollars  for  the  work 
of  evangelization,  —  only  a  little  less  than  four 
dollars  per  member,  —  "out  of  their  penury." 


150  MISSION  TO   THE  SHANS, 

The  clouds,  however,  were  not  wholly  with- 
drawn. The  next  year  (1874)  trials  and  inter- 
ruptions interfered  with  the  work.  The  Shan 
people  were  restless  and  uneasy,  burdened  by 
taxation,  wasted  by  robbers,  and  moving  from 
place  to  place.  Besides  this,  the  missionaries 
of  a  ritualistic  Society  made  open  efforts  to 
draw  away  the  disciples  and  teachers,  and,  by 
employing  unworthy  persons,  to  bring  the  whole 
work  into  disrepute.  But  amid  the  whole  the 
Shan  school,  with  its  twenty-eight  pupils,  was 
the  most  successful  school  the  mission  had  ever 
sustained ;  and  the  native  Christians,  unlike 
most  of  their  countrymen,  showed  a  strong 
interest  in  it.  Miss  Elizabeth  Lawrence,  of 
the  Woman's  Missionary  Society,  was  added 
to  the  working  force ;  and  her  Society  assumed 
the  support  of  the  school.  Three  were  baptized 
this  year,  and  the  Shan  church  at  Toungoo  num- 
bered twenty. 

The  next  year  (1875)  Mr.  Gushing  and  wife 
returned  to  the  United  States  on  account  of 
their  impaired  health  ;  and  except  for  the  school 
of  Miss  Lawrence,  which  showed  no  great 
vigor,  the  work  of  the  mission  was  suspended. 
In  the  absence  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gushing, 
preaching  was  kept  up  in  the  Shan  chapel,  and 
a  prayer-meeting  at  the  out-station.  Several 
villages  were  visited  by  a  Shan  preacher.  Five 
Shan  girls  were  taught  in  connection  with  the 
Burman  school,  and  three  Shan  converts  were 
baptized. 

In  November,  1876,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gushing 
aofain    returned    to    Burmah    to  resume    their 


THE    WORK  IN  A  NEW  CENTRE.        151 

work,  and  immediately  made  preparations  to 
ascend  the  river  to  Bhamo,  an  important  cen- 
tre, having  monthly  steam  communication  with 
Rangoon.  They  remained  at  Mandelay  three 
weeks,  awaiting  the  royal  order,  without  which 
they  would  not  be  permitted  to  reside  in  Upper 
Burmah.  The  object  of  this  journey  was  to 
learn  whether  Bhamo  would  be.  a  favorable 
point  for  the  establishment  of  the  headquarters 
of  the  Shan  Mission. 

After  the  necessary  investigations,  it  became 
evident  that  Bhamo  would  doubtless  be  a  most 
eligible  centre  for  this  purpose.  Mrs.  Gushing 
returned  to  Toungoo  to  look  after  the  interests 
of  the  work  there,  and  Mr.  Gushing  remained 
in  Bhamo  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  new 
station.  Mr.  Gushing  also  reports  five  points 
of  importance  to  this  mission,  all  of  which  he 
had  visited ;  and  he  expresses  the  opinion  that 
**  the  Shan  work,  once  taken  hold  of  vigorously, 
will  yield  a  grand  return.  Is  it  too  much  to 
plan  for  that  during  the  next  ten  years  }  All 
these  places  should  be  occupied  by  men  not 
afraid  of  trusting  in  God  and  going  forward 
discreetly.  Just  as  soon  as  the  New  Testament 
is  done,  and  a  good  slice  of  the  Old  Testament, 
I  am  ready  to  go  anywhere  into  the  interior.  I 
would  go  anywhere  now,  were  it  not  that  I  am 
convinced  that  it  would  be  a  sin  to  delay  the 
translation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  longer.  In 
naming  over  these  places,  I '  have  only  one  de- 
sire ;  and  that  is  that  you  will  study  the  Shan 
field,  and  co-operate  in  bringing  about  its  occu- 
pation as  speedily  as  possible.     I  have  no  doubt 


152  MISSION  TO    THE  SHANS. 

that  with  the  death  of  the  king,  now  sixty-three 
years  of  age,  the  last  hinderance  to  evangehstic 
labors  in  Upper  Burmah  will  be  swept  away  by 
the  English  government.  Let  us  be  in  occupa- 
tion of  the  field,  as  far  as  possible,  and  ready 
for  any  change  in  affairs  to  take  advantage  of 
them." 

Messrs.  Albert  J.  Lyon  and  Jacob  A.  Freiday 
sailed  from  this  country  in  1877,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  founding  a  new  station  for  the  Ka- 
Khyens  at  Bhamo,  in  Burmah  Proper.  They 
arrived  in  Rangoon  Dec.  27,  and  reached  their 
field  of  labor  in  February,  1878.  On  the  pas- 
sage from  Rangoon  to  Bhamo,  Mr.  Lyon 
caught  a  heavy  cold ;  and  in  one  month  from 
his  arrival  he  died,  "a  costly  sacrifice,"  the 
first-fruits  unto  Christ  of  the  mission  in  that 
new  field.  Mrs.  Lyon  soon  returned  to  Amer- 
ica. The  king  of  Burmah  died  early  in  1879, 
leaving  the  government  to  a  despotic  son. 

A  careful  perusal  of  the  history  of  the  mis- 
sion to  the  Shans  impresses  us  with  the  thought 
that  if  it  has  yielded  little  fruit,  and  in  this  re- 
spect comes  behind  other  stations  and  missions 
in  interest,  this  failure  is  not  without  cause. 
The  work  has  never  been  prosecuted  with 
adequate. vigor.  Helpers  in  sufficient  numbers 
have  been  wanting  from  the  beginning.  Men 
and  means  corresponding  to  the  exigency  have 
at  no  time  been  furnished.  While  other  and 
more  prosperous  fields  have  called  for  aid,  and 
been  re-enforced,  the  mission  to  the  Shans  has 
been  allowed  to  faint,  and  falter,  and  wait  for 
the  supply  of  its  wants  even  until  now.     The 


CONCLUDING    THOUGHTS.  153 

history  of  missions  has  shown  that  a  vigorous 
onset  at  the  beginning  has  generally  been  fol- 
lowed by  early  success.  Let  the  American 
mission  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  the  Brit- 
ish missions  to  others  of  the  South  Sea  groups 
bear  witness.  The  Divine  principle  holds  good 
in  missions  as  in  benevolence,  "  He  that  sow- 
eth  sparingly  shall  reap  also  sparingly."  We 
have  seen  it  in  the  various  missions  of  our 
Union.  It  has  been  almost  the  invariable  rule 
in  missions  of  all  Societies  in  every  part  of  the 
earth. 

But  lack  of  prosperity  in  the  beginning  of  a 
mission  is  no  indication  that  the  project  does 
not  enjoy  the  Divine  approval.  It  is  no  proof 
that  God  has  not  great  things  in  store  for  his 
people.  A  slender  present  is  sometimes  the 
antecedent  of  a  grand  future.  So  it  was  in  the 
Greenland  mission  of  the  Moravians.  So  it 
was  in  the  commencement  of  the  Burman  mis- 
sion. So  it  was  in  the  American  Baptist  mis- 
sion to  the  Teloogoos.  The  Shans  are  among 
the  heathen  nations  to  whom  the  gospel  is  to  be 
preached,  and  among  whom  the  gospel  is  yet  to 
win  its  trophies.  A  good  work  of  preparation 
has  been  done ;  and  in  due  time,  here  as  else- 
where, the  promise  of  God  will  surely  be  ful- 
filled, "  I  the  Lord  will  hasten  it  in  his  time." 


No.  XL 

MISSION   TO   ASSAM. 

Geography  of  Assam.  —  The  First  Missionaries.  —  Work  of  the  Press. 

—  Removal.  —  A  Native  Insurrection,  —  The  Hill  Tribes.  —  The 
First  Convert.  —  Three  Stations  established.  —  Brighter  Days.  — 
The  Pastor  of  Gowahati.  — Missionaries  called  to  Higher  Service. 

—  The  New  Testament  in  Assamese.  —  Another  Revival  of  Reli- 
gion,—  Discouragements.  —  "The  Morning  Light  is  Breaking." 

—  The  Tract  swept  out,  and  what  came  of  it.  —  The  Native  Mis- 
sionaries. —  As  Doves  to  their  Windows.  —  The  Mission  Field 
brought  near,  —  A  Missionary  honored.  —  An  Onward  Work.  — 
Another  Tribe  brought  in.  —  Work  among  the  Garos.  —  Latest 
Intelligence,  —  Conclusion. 

ASSAM  lies  north  and  north-west  of  Burmah, 
.  bordering  on  China  on  the  north-east.  It 
is  from  seventy  to  a  hundred  miles  in  breadth, 
and  drained  by  the  Brahmaputra  River,  which 
flows  westwardly  through  its  centre,  and  then 
turns  southerly  towards  Calcutta.  It  is  inhab- 
ited by  various  tribes  besides  the  Assamese,  of 
which  the  most  important  in  our  history  are  the 
Garos,  the  "Nagas,  the  Mikirs,  and  the  Bengalis. 
The  people  were  at  first  taken  to  be  Shyans, 
or  Shans,  or  branches  of  the  Shans.  They  were 
found  to  be  Brahminists,  not  Buddhists,  and 
maintained  the  system  of  caste,  that  mighty 
engine  of  Satan  to  obstruct  the  influence  of  the 
gospel. 

IS4 


THE  FIRST  MISSIONARIES.  155 

The  stations  of  the  missions,  earlier  and  later, 
stand  in  the  following  order,  proceeding  from 
the  easternmost :  Sadiya,  Jaipur,  Sibsagor,  Jor- 
hat,  Nowgong,  Tezpur,  Gowahati,  Gowalpara, 
Tura  near  Gowalpara,  and  Haimoung  in  the 
Naga  Hills.  They  are  all  on  the  southern  side 
of  the  Brahmaputra  except  Tezpur,  which  is  on 
the  north,  opposite  Nowgong.  The  geographies 
call  Nowgong  the  capital  of  Upper  Assam,  and 
Gowahati  the  capital  of  Lower  Assam.  The 
country,  previously  independent,  was  added  to 
the  Burman  Empire  in  1822,  and  since  1826  it 
has  been  wholly  under  English  rule.  The  sta- 
tions are  now  reached  by  British  steamers, 
which  ply  regularly  between  Calcutta  and  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Brahmaputra.  Sadiya,  the 
first  station  adopted,  is  two  miles  from  the  great 
river. 

The  first  missionaries  were  Messrs.  Nathan 
Brown,  since  a  missionary  in  Japan,  and  O.  T. 
Cutter,  the  latter  a  printer.  Mr.  Brown  is  the 
author  of  the  impressive  and  well-known  mis-' 
sionary  hymn  beginning,  '*  My  soul  is  not  at 
rest."  These  brethren  had  been  for  three  years 
missionaries  in  Burmah.  The  Board  having 
determined  to  open  this  new  mission,  these 
brethren,  after  a  passage  of  four  months  on  the 
Brahmaputra,  from  Calcutta  to  their  appointed 
station,  planted  themselves  at  Sadiya,  March  23, 
1836.  Sadiya  is  the  name  both  of  a  district, 
and  of  its  principal  village,  situated  four  hun- 
dred miles  north  of  Ava,  and  about  two  hundred 
miles  from  Yunnan,  a  large  mart  of  trade  within 
the  boundaries  of  China.     They  designed  at  the 


T56  MISSION  TO  ASSAM. 

outset  to  labor  among  the  Khamtis,  who  had 
been  represented  as  the  most  interesting  portion 
of  the  population.  But  they  soon  found  that  the 
great  body  of  this  people  lived  farther  east,  and 
therefore  turned  their  efforts  to  the  mixed  popu- 
lation of  Sadiya,  of  whom  the  Assamese  formed 
a  portion.     Mr.  Bronson  arrived  in  1837. 

The  first  book  printed  by  Mr.  Cutter  was  a 
spelling-book  in  English,  Assamese,  and  Shyan  ; 
then  a  tract  containing  the  parables  of  Christ 
in  Assamese,  also  a  Shyan  version  of  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount.  From  August,  1836,  Mrs. 
Cutter  had  a  school  of  thirty  or  forty  pupils  at 
Sadiya.  Mr.  Brown  commenced  the  translation 
of  Matthew  into  Assamese  Jan.  i,  1838.  A 
Khamti  catechism  and  an  Assamese  primer 
followed,  and  a  Khamti  dictionary  by  Mr. 
Brown  was  in  progress.  Worship  in  Assamese 
was  commenced  near  the  close  of  1837.  In 
1838  two  zayats  were  built  near  the  town,  which 
were  occupied  every  Sunday  by  Messrs.  Brown 
and  Cutter ;  and  the  latter  superintended  a 
school  of  fifty  boys.  The  labors  of  Mr.  Brown 
were  to  be  devoted  specially  to  the  Assamese 
and  Khamtis,  of  Mr.  Bronson  to  the  Singphos, 
and  Mr.  Cutter  had  charge  of  the  printing  de- 
partment and  the  superintendence  of  the  schools. 

Late  in  1836  Rev.  Jacob  Thomas  left  this 
country  to  join  the  mission.  But  He  who  seeth 
not  as  man  seeth  had  planned  otherwise.  Mr. 
Thomas  arrived  safely  in  Calcutta,  and,  sailing 
up  the  Brahmaputra  in  July,  1837,  was  already 
within  sight  of  his  future  home,  Sadiya,  when 
a  tree  upon  the  banks,  which  had  been  loosened 


THE  HILL    TRIBES.  157 

from  its  hold  by  the  rains,  fell  across  the  boat 
which  conveyed  him,  and  he  was  instantly 
killed.  Thus  the  bright  hopes  of  the  young 
missionary  were  cut  off  in  their  very  morning ; 
and  the  friends  of  missions  were  left  to  wonder 
at  the  inscrutable  methods  of  Him,  who,  in  his 
abundant  resources,  knows  how  to  dispense  with 
the  services  of  his  servants,  but  at  the  same 
time  successfully  to  carry  on  his  work. 

In  May,  1838,  Mr.  Bronson  removed  to  Jai- 
pur, one  of  the  principal  posts  of  the  East  India 
Company,  three  or  four  days'  journey  south-west 
of  Sadiya,  that  he  might  be  nearer  the  Sing- 
phos,  to  whom  he  had  been  specially  designated. 
A  year  later,  in  May,  1839,  ^  disturbance  arose, 
in  which  several  Khamti  chiefs  were  slain,  and 
the  Khamtis  entirely  dispersed.  There  were 
three  schools  in  Sadiya  until  the  station  was 
discontinued.  Sadiya  continued  for  a  season  in 
a  state  of  agitation,  and  at  length  it  was  deemed 
best  to  remove  the  entire  mission.  In  a  few 
months  the  military  and  civil  officers  followed 
the  missionaries  to  Jaipur  ;  and  Sadiya,  deserted 
by  its  inhabitants,  was  left  to  the  tigers  and 
jackals. 

Mr.  Bronson,  at  the  time  of  the  outbreak, 
was  visiting  the  Nagas  on  the  hills,  making 
observations  preparatory  to  the  establishment 
of  a  mission  for  their  benefit.  While  the  work 
was  partially  suspended,  the  missionaries  turned 
their  attention  to  the  acquisition  of  the  lan- 
guages of  the  people  around  them,  and  the  prep- 
aration of  books  for  the  press.  In  January, 
1840,   Mr.    Bronson    again   visited   the   Nagas 


158  MISSION  TO  ASSAM. 

among  the  hills,  found  them  eager  for  insti  na- 
tion, and  resolved  to  establish  a  mission  among 
them.  On  the  14th  of  May,  1840,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Barker  and  the  sister  of  Mr.  Bronson  joined 
the  mission.  The  latter  was  to  be  associated 
with  her  brother  among  the  Nagas.  But  the 
Lord  accepted  her  willingness  to  serve  him,  and 
in  seven  months  took  her  to  himself.  Mr. 
Barker  established  a  new  station  under  promis- 
ing circumstances  at  Sibsagor,  in  May,  1841, 
three  days'  journey  below  Jaipur ;  and  the  lat- 
ter station,  not  meeting  the  expectation  of  the 
missionaries,  was  gradually  abandoned.  Sibsa- 
gor had  a  population  of  eight  thousand,  and  its 
many  advantages  commended  it  as  the  most  suit- 
able place  that  could  be  selected  for  labors  among 
the  Assamese.  Mr.  Bronson  was  driven  by  the 
insalubrity  of  the  climate  from  the  hills,  and 
removed  in  October,  1841,  to  Nowgong,  in  Cen- 
tral Assam.  There  were  many  Nagas  here  from 
the  hills,  but  the  labors  of  the  mission  were 
bestowed  mainly  on  the  Assamese. 

Nidhiram,  the  first  Assamese  convert,  was 
baptized  by  Mr.  Bronson  June  13,  1841.  He 
was  an  apprentice  in  the  printing-office,  and  on 
becoming  a  Christian,  dropped  the  name  Ram, 
which  belonged  to  a  pagan  deity,  and  substi- 
tuted the  name  of  Levi  Farwell.  He  was  ever 
afterwards  called  Nidhi  Levi.  A  school  was 
opened  at  Nowgong  in  April,  1842,  with  eighty 
pupils.  To  this  was  added,  the  next  year,  the 
Nowgong  Orphan  Institution,  which  for  several 
years  was  an  important  part  of  the  mission 
work,  and  in  which  souls  were  trained  up  for 


BRIGHTER  DAYS.  1 59 

usefulness  and  for  heaven.  Six  months  after 
the  baptism  of  Nidhi  Levi,  another  vi^as  baptized, 
who  had  been  awakened  by  reading  a  tract. 

Mr.  Cutter  had  remained  with  his  press  at 
Jaipur;  but  on  account  of  the  disturbed  con- 
dition of  the  country,  and  the  insecurity  of  the 
mission  property,  in  November,  1843,  he  re- 
moved to  Sibsagor.  Mr.  Barker  removed  first 
to  Tezpur,  and  finally  to  Gowahati,  the  most 
important  town  in  the  province,  and  established 
a  third  station  to  take  the  place  of  Jaipur.  At 
each  of  the  three  stations,  Nowgong,  Sibsagor, 
and  Gowahati,  a  church  was  soon  constituted ; 
and  these  churches  were  gradually  strengthened 
by  occasional  accessions.  The  institution  at 
Nowgong,  commenced  with  twelve  pupils,  con- 
tinued to  grow,  being  filled  up  with  orphans 
from  every  part  at  Assam.  Some  of  these 
orphans,  in  process  of  time,  moved  away ;  some 
went,  happy  and  thankful,  to  heaven.  The  in- 
stitution was  given  up  in  1856,  after  twelve 
years  ;  but  from  these  dispersed  orphans  more 
Christian  helpers  were  raised  up  than  from  any 
other  single  instrumentality.  At  the  outset,  six 
hundred  dollars  were  contributed  for  the  erection 
of  the  necessary  buildings,  and  the  number  of 
inmates  increased  from  twelve  to  upwards  of 
fifty.  Much  of  the  expense  was  defrayed  with- 
out cost  to  the  mission. 

In  November,  1844,  three  converts  were  bap- 
tized at  Nowgong :  two  of  them  were  females. 

It  was  in  the  year  1846,  after  nearly  ten  years 
of  toil,  that  the  seed  sown  began  to  appear  in  a 
joyful  harvest.     The  elder  pupils  of  the  Orphan 


l6o  MISSION  TO  ASSAM. 

Institution  at  Nowgong  first  felt  the  influence 
of  this  awakening ;  and  during  this  year  seven 
of  them  were  baptized,  besides  others  at  the 
same  station.  In  the  course  of  the  year,  each 
of  the  three  churches  received  a  blessing.  At 
the  end  of  two  years  from  its  organization,  the 
church  of  Gowahati  numbered  27  members.  In 
1847  there  were  14  schools  and  381  pupils.  At 
Gowahati  a  young  girl,  the  first-fruits  of  the 
Kacharis,  was  baptized,  and  one  of  the  Mussul- 
man population  forsook  Mohammed  for  Christ. 
Eighteen  were  baptized  this  year  at  Gowahati, 
and  in  the  three  stations  a  total  of  thirty.  The 
wide  field  needed  more  laborers,  and  earnest 
applications  were  sent  home  for  re-enforcements. 
The  health  of  the  missionaries  was  enfeebled, 
and  some  of  them  were  obliged  to  retire  tempo- 
rarily from  the  field. 

How  shall  Gowahati  find  a  pastor.?  was  the 
question,  after  Mr.  Whiting  was  forced  to  re- 
turn to  America.  Let  us  see.  In  1849  M^r. 
Stoddard  baptized  a  native  called  Kandura,  a 
boy  of  twelve  years,  from  the  Orphan  Institu- 
tion. He  grew  up  a  good  scholar  and  a  busi- 
ness man,  and  held  an  office  under  government 
which  yielded  him  twenty  dollars  per  month  at 
Gowahati.  But  he  voluntarily  relinquished  his 
office,  and  accepted  the  pastorship  of  the  church, 
receiving  seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  month. 
*'  Can  you  hold  out  till  some  one  arrives .? "  asked 
Mr.  Bronson.  "  My  wish  is  to  hold  on  till 
death,"  was  Kandura's  reply. 

After  eight  years,  during  which  not  a  helper 
had   gone  to   their  aid,  Messrs.  Danforth   and 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  IN  ASSAMESE.    i6l 

Stoddard  joined  the  mission  in  185 1,  with  their 
wives,  the  former  destined  to  Gowahati,  and  the 
latter  to  Nowgong.  The  same  year  the  second 
edition  of  the  New  Testament,  translated  by- 
Mr.  Brown,  was  printed,  and  baptisms  occurred 
at  all  the  stations,  including  two  at  Gowalpara, 
a  new  name  in  the  history  of  the  mission  to 
Assam,  but  one  destined  to  be  a  joy  and  re- 
joicing in  the  years  to  come. 

In  1849  t^^  Nowgong  Institution  numbered 
forty  pupils.  Two  buildings  were  erected  for 
its  accommodation.  In  a  place  thirty  miles 
from  Gowahati,  eighty  young  people  formed 
themselves  into  a  school,  and  sent  thirty  of 
their  number  to  Gowahati  to  beg  for  books  and 
a  teacher.  In  January,  1850,  Mr.  Barker,  dis- 
abled and  returning  home  in  search  of  health, 
died  at  sea,  and  was  buried  under  the  waves  in 
Mozambique  Channel.  His  missionary  life  ex- 
tended to  a  period  of  less  than  ten  years ;  but 
he  laid  good  foundations,  on  which  others  have 
built.  Thus  God  took  one  to  himself,  but  he 
provided  another  to  take  his  place.  Mr.  Daii- 
ble,  a  German  missionary,  of  the  Basle  Mission- 
ary Society,  was  baptized  a  few  days  later  at 
Tezpur,  and  was  appointed  a  missionary  at 
Nowgong.  After  three  years  of  intensely  ear- 
nest labor  in  the  school,  the  street,  and  the  jun- 
gle, he  ended  his  work,  and  died  March  23,  1853. 

Messrs.  Ward  and  Whiting  joined  the  mis- 
sion about  the  close  of  1850.  The  leaven  was 
evidently  working  in  Assam.  People  came 
sometimes  twenty  or  thirty  miles  to  Gowahati, 
to  obtain  books  and  tracts.     In  185 1  there  were 


1 62  MISSION   TO  ASSAM. 

five  native  assistants,  two  of  whom  had  visited 
the  United  States,  and  implored  the  churches 
for  help.  Mr.  Danforth  this  year  gave  a  reli- 
gious book  or  tract  to  4,238  persons  in  and  near 
Gowahati,  committing  the  seed  to  the  Infinite 
Husbandman,  whose  it  is  to  give  the  increase. 
At  a  meeting  in  October,  185 1,  seven  native 
assistants  were  set  apart  to  missionary  labor, 
and  an  Association  was  formed. 

In  1853  Mr.  Cutter's  connection  with  the  mis- 
sion was  closed ;  and  the  care  of  the  printing- 
office  fell  upon  Dr.  Brown,  who,  devoting  him- 
self to  the  work  of  translation,  had  put  the  New 
Testament  into  Assamese,  and  subjected  it  to 
repeated  revisions,  besides  translating  Genesis 
and  other  most  important  portions  of  the  Old 
Testament.  But  the  labor  was  too  much  for 
him;  and  in  1855  he  returned  to  America  in 
search  of  health,  after  a  service  of  twenty  years 
amid  the  desolations  of  heathenism. 

The  year  1852  witnessed  a  revival  of  religion 
in  Sibsagor  and  Nowgong,  especially  in  the  Or- 
phan School.  Two  of  the  oldest  members  of 
Mrs.  Brown's  school  in  Sibsagor  were  awakened 
and  converted.  Their  joy  was  the  means  of 
awakening  the  four  next  younger ;  and  for  a 
while  there  was  little  study  in  the  school.  Mrs. 
Brown  found  that  if  she  left  them  they  would 
separate,  each  to  find  some,  spot  where  she 
might  pray  alone.  The  next  year  brought  more 
fruit,  including  a  young  heathen  girl  and  her 
mother.  A  few  years  later  there  was  again  a 
revival  in  the  school,  in  which  ten  were  hope- 
fully converted.     Mrs.    Brown    had  the   joy  of 


DISCOURAGEMENTS.  1 63 

knowing,  before  she  died,  that  all  who  had  been 
under  her  care  in  the  school  had  become  Chris- 
tians. There  were  like  scenes  in  the  Orphan 
School  in  Nowgong,  and  in  1853  a  revival  in 
the  school  in  Gowahati. 

The  triumphant  Christian  death  of  Batiram, 
about  this  time,  led  to  the  conversion  of  his 
mother.  She  had  been  a  rigid  Hindoo  ;  but  by 
the  rod  of  affliction  the  Lord  knew  how  to  sub- 
due her.  It  was  a  long  conflict  ;  but  when,  in 
a  female  prayer-meeting,  she  knelt  and  cried  for 
mercy,  tears  choked  her  utterance,  and  there 
was  not  a  dry  eye  in  the  room.  She  gave  up 
all,  though  it  was  with  a  severe  struggle,  and 
took  her  place  joyfully  among  the  disciples  of 
Christ. 

After  this,  for  a  season,  the  enterprise  seemed 
destined  to  failure.  The  missionaries  were  driv- 
en by  sickness  to  return  home,  one  by  one,  till 
for  a  whole  year  Mr.  Whiting  was  left  the  only 
missionary  in  the  field.  Then  came  the  fearful 
Indian  mutiny  of  1857  and  1858.  It  is  true, 
not  a  hair  of  the  head  of  any  of  the  brethren 
in  Assam  was  touched  ;  but  they  dreaded  with 
good  reason  lest  the  terrible  scenes  of  Delhi 
and  Cawnpore  might  be  repeated  also  in  their 
.province.  For  six  months  Mr.  Danforth  might 
have  been  seen  drilling  in  sight  of  enraged  and 
hostile  sepoys,  that  he  might  be  the  better  able 
to  protect  his  family  and  the  property  of  the 
mission  in  the  event  of  an  attack.  After  this 
Mr.  C.  F.  Tolman  joined  the  mission  ;  but  in  two 
years,  with  broken  health,  he  was  forced  to  flee 
from    the   field.     In    1864  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Scott 


1 64  MISSION  TO  ASSAM. 

tried  the  climate,  but  in  two  years  they  also 
were  driven  back  to  America.  Had  God  for- 
gotten his  promise  ?  and  must  the  mission  prove 
a  failure  ?  Not  at  all.  He  who  cannot  lie  had 
pledged  his  word  to  his  faithful  servants,  and 
was  already  moving  for  their  deliverance. 

In  1856  Mr.  Bion,  an  English  Baptist  mis- 
sionary, made  a  tour  into  Assam,  touched  at 
Gowalpara,  preached,  distributed  tracts,  and 
returned,  and  reported  a  wide  door  open  for 
effort.  But  none  heard.  The  tracts  were  torn 
in  pieces,  or  swept  out  into  the  mud,  or  sold  for 
waste  paper.  Who  would  imagine  that  this 
was  the  opening  sentence  of  one  of  the  most 
thrilling  histories  of  modern  evangelization } 
But  so  it  is.  The  hour  of  greatest  darkness 
precedes  the  day.  The  time  of  desertion  is 
often  the  breaking-forth  of  Jehovah's  glory. 

Who  has  not  heard  of  the  Garos,  —  the  wild- 
est race  on  the  hills  of  Assam,  whom  English 
cunning  and  strategy  had  never  been  able  to 
subdue }  They  were  without  images  or  tem- 
ples, and  knew  no  God  but  the  demons  of  the 
hills,  whom  they  sought  to  propitiate  by  bloody 
sacrifices.  Here  and  there  one  of  them  be- 
came sufficiently  tamed  to  enter  a  government 
school  at  Gowalpara.  Some  of  them  were  found 
among  the  sepoys,  —  native  soldiers  joined  with 
the  British  army.  When  Mr.  Bion  visited  Gow- 
alpara, ten  Garos  were  in  the  government  school, 
and  some  of  them  had  learned  to  read  Bengali. 
One  of  them,  by  name  Omed,  received  a  tract 
and  a  coj^y  of  the  Psalms.  After  a  while  he  en- 
listed as  a  sepoy,  and  was  set  to  keep  guard 


THE   TRACT  SWEPT  OUT.  165 

before  a  forsaken  mission-house  which  had  been 
rented  to  a  British  officer.  His  task  was  not  an 
arduous  one,  and  left  him  plenty  of  leisure.  In 
cleaning  the  house  for  the  new  tenant,  some 
torn  leaves  of  paper  were  swept  out.  One  of 
them  this  curious  sepoy  picked  up,  and,  to  fill 
up  an  idle  hour,  began  to  read.  He  felt  the 
conviction  that  the  leaf  contained  truth,  and 
soon  went  to  the  native  Christians  for  more 
books  and  instruction.  He  communicated  his 
treasures  to  two  others,  who  were  likewise  con- 
vinced and  awakened.  Finally  Omed,  the  first 
of  the  Garo  tribe,  and  Ramkhe,  were  baptized 
by  Mr.  Bronson,  in  February,  1863.  Seven 
months  later  the  first  Mikir  convert  was  bap- 
tized at  Nowgong. 

Omed's  first  question  was,  "  Is  there  not  a 
missionary  for  my  people } "  But  there  was 
none.  He  so  longed  for  the  salvation  of  his 
race,  that  he  would  willingly  have  gone  to  them 
with  the  message  of  salvation.  But,  conscious 
of  his  ignorance  and  unfitness,  he  concluded  to 
remain  as  he  was,  gradually  gaining  instruction 
from  the  Sabbath  labors  of  the  native  pastor, 
Kandura.  He  had  a  good  government  situation ; 
but  after  a  year  or  more  he,  with  Ramkhe,  re- 
signed, and  went  forth  as  missionaries. 

In  1866  a  third  Garo  was  baptized.  About 
the  same  time  eight  Garos,  awakened  by  the 
ministry  of  Omed  and  Ramkhe,  appealed  to  the 
mission  for  help.  Opposition  was  aroused,  and 
the  new  converts  and  inquirers  were  called  to 
endure  suffering  for  Christ.  Upon  this  Omed, 
leaving  the  hill  country,  removed  to  the  valley, 


l66  MISSION  TO  ASSAM, 

built  a  hut  of  grass,  and  lived  in  it  for  a  year, 
preaching  to  the  Garos  who  passed  on  their  way 
to  market,  and  occasionally  visiting  his  old  ac- 
quaintances on  the  hills.  Other  families  joined 
him.  The  settlement  became  a  village,  called 
Rajamala.  It  was  a  city  of  refuge  for  perse- 
cuted Christians.  In  1867  Mr.  Bronson  visited 
them  ;  and  a  church  was  organized  consisting  of 
forty  members,  including  the  native  assistants. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Scott,  designated  to  the  Mikirs, 
had  arrived  in  Nowgong  in  November,  1863. 
In  view  of  this  remarkable  opening  among  the 
Garos,  Mr.  Stoddard,  with  his  family,  removed 
to  Gowalpara,  to  the  charge  of  the  new  station. 
In  March,  1868,  he  reported  a  tour  among  the 
Garo  people,  and  witnessed  wonderful  triumphs 
of  Divine  grace.  In  a  beautiful  grove  a  man 
had  erected  temporary  buildings  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  missionary,  where  the  gospel 
might  be  preached  to  his  townspeople ;  and 
here  thirteen  more  Garos  confessed  Christ.  A 
few  days  later  on  his  journey,  tarrying  and 
preaching  for  a  week,  Mr.  Stoddard  baptized 
twenty-five  more.  The  number  was  now  eighty- 
one,  wearing  the  Christian  livery ;  and  the  work 
extended  to  the  right  hand  and  the  left.  In 
June  twelve  more  joined  the  company  of  dis- 
ciples. One  of  them,  a  woman,  came  eight 
miles,  bringing  a  large  infant  on  her  back, 
sometimes  fording  streams  up  to  her  armpits, 
that  she  might  have  the  privilege  of  confessing 
Christ.  In  1869  the  mission  reported  a  hun- 
dred and  forty  Christians,  five  churches,  and 
eight  or  ten  native  preachers  of  this  tribe,  and 


THE  NATIVE  MISSIONARIES.  167 

the  field  perpetually  widening  and  growing  in 
interest.  Even  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  peo- 
ple were  improved.  The  wealth  of  one  village 
was  said  to  have  quadrupled  during  the  two 
years  since  they  consecrated  themselves  to  the 
service  of  Christ.  A  normal  school  at  one  of 
the  stations,  having  twenty-eight  pupils,  young 
men,  reported  twenty-five  of  them  as  baptized. 
All  who  went  out  from  the  school  to  teach  were 
expected  also  to  read,  explain,  and  preach  the 
Word. 

In  1866  Mr.  Bronson's  English  and  Assam- 
ese Dictionary  was  put  to  press.  Mr.  Milton  B. 
Comfort  was  added  to  the  working  force  of  the 
mission  in  1867,  and,  together  with  Mr.  Stod- 
dard, stationed  at  Gowahati ;  the  latter  having 
already  spent  ten  years  in  this  field.  The  tele- 
graph-wires now  joined  Gowahati  with  Boston, 
and  a  railroad  from  Calcutta  towards  the  station 
had  shortened  the  distance  from  that  city  in 
time  about  one-half.  A  railroad-route  had  also 
been  surveyed  along  the  valley,  running  through 
the  stations  of  the  Union.  In  1869  Miss  Maria 
Bronson  Cotes  joined  the  mission,  to  aid  her 
father  in  his  work  ;  but  in  1874  she  was  swept 
off  by  the  cholera  in  Gowahati ;  another  young 
life  offered  up  to  God  and  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions, though  painful  to  us,  doubtless  acceptable 
in  his  sight.  We  shall  know  more  in  the  fu- 
ture. In  May,  1869,  Mr.  Scott  died  in  Now- 
gong.  Mrs.  Scott  remained  for  a  season,  bravely 
carrying  forward  the  work  which  her  husband 
had  left.  Two  years  later  she  had  the  superin- 
tendence  of   eleven    schools.     Mr.    Ward   also 


1 68  MISSION  TO  ASSAM. 

was  compelled  by  declining  health  to  leave  the 
field  for  a  season.  This  year  there  were  two 
schools  on  the  Mikir  hills.  Rev.  R.  E.  Neigh- 
bor and  wife  joined  the  mission  in  January, 
1870. 

In  1 87 1  Mr.  Clark,  with  a  native  helper,  made 
a  tour  to  the  Naga  Hills.  At  first  the  people, 
supposing  him  to  be  a  government  spy,  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  him.  But,  when  they 
learned  his  true  character  as  a  messenger  of  the 
glad  tidings  of  the  gospel,  they  bestowed  on 
him  every  possible  mark  of  honor.  The  women 
and  children  wept  at  his  departure,  and  two  of 
their  chief  men  accompanied  him  as  a  body- 
guard till  he  reached  his  home. 

In  June,  1872,  Mr.  Stoddard  was  joined  by  a 
new  missionary.  Rev.  T.  J.  Keith.  Other  mis- 
sionaries had  visited  and  aided  him  in  his  work 
the  preceding  year.  In  one  place  a  chief,  after 
listening  several  days  to  the  gospel,  stood  up  in 
a  crowded  assembly  of  his  people,  and  said,  "  I 
am  on  the  Lord's  side.  I  sacrifice  no  more  to 
demons  from  this  hour." 

Early  in  1873,  an  outrage  committed  by  some 
independent  Garos  on  a  village  under  English 
protection  led  to  an  action  of  the  English 
authorities  in  which  seventy  or  eighty  villages 
were  reduced  to  submission,  opening  the  way 
for  the  missionary  to  go  everywhere  unmo- 
lested. The  report  of  that  year  said,  *'  The 
hills  around  Sibsagor  are  full  of  inquirers ;  and 
Gowahati  begins  to  vie  with  Gowalpara,  as  a  cen- 
tre for  Kosari  and  Garo  disciples.  Wherever 
the  gospel  has  been  preached,  especially  where 


ANOTHER   TRIBE  BROUGHT  IN,  169 

a  Christian  school  has  been  started,  there  are 
converts  waiting  for  the  coming  of  the  mission- 
ary, to  be  baptized  and  gathered  into  churches. 
A  school  for  girls  was  commenced  at  Gowalpara, 
under  Mrs.  Keith;  and  ten  Garo  girls  were  un- 
der its  influence.  At  the  close  of  1874,  the 
number  of  Garo  church-members  was  reported 
about  four  hundred  ;  the  Gospel  of  Matthew 
had  been  translated  and  printed  for  them  ; 
three  primary  reading-books  had  been  prepared  ; 
and  a  dictionary,  containing  four  thousand  words 
in  common  use  in  this  dialect,  A^hich  six  or 
seven  years  before  had  no  written  character, 
had  been  printed  at  government  expense. 

Messrs.  M.  C.  Mason  and  E.  G.  Phillips,  with 
their  wives,  joined  the  mission  with  reference  to 
one  or  two  new  stations,  but  settled  down  tem- 
porarily at  Gowalpara.  In  1875  the  accessions 
indicated  a  healthy  advancement  of  Divine  truth 
among  the  people.  During  that  year  one  hun- 
dred and  four  were  baptized,  and  the  Associa- 
tion, previously  formed,  held  its  second  annual 
meeting.  A  spirit  of  Christian  benevolence  be- 
gan to  develop  itself  among  the  people. 

Two  new  stations  were  now  formed  for  the 
Garo  work, — the  first  at  Tura,  Mr.  Phillips 
resident  missionary  ;  the  second  at  Haimoung, 
Rev.  E.  W.  Clark  missionary.  The  former  sta- 
tion is  a  hundred  miles  into  the  hills,  in  the 
heart  of  the  Garo  country,  and  the  chief  town 
of  the  tribe.  The  other  station  is  between 
Assam  and  Burmah,  in  the  Naga  Hills.  The 
people  are  a  hardy  and  savage  race,  but  they 
gave   Mr.   Clark  a   cordial   welcome.     At    the 


I70  MISSION  TO  ASSAM. 

Garo  Association  in  January,  1876,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  Garo  Christians  were  present.  A  new 
church  was  organized  in  an  out-station,  with  a 
native  pastor ;  and  a  second  church  at  Damra, 
the  site  of  the  normal  school.  Garo  members 
reported,  488. 

The  work  of  the  mission  at  all  points  was 
one  of  growing  interest.  New  fields  constant- 
ly opened.  New  converts  came  from  distant 
places  to  learn  of  Christ  and  salvation,  and  to 
take  upon  them  the  livery  of  Christ's  disciples. 
Interesting  "incidents  continually  occurred,  and 
the  white  waving  fields  invited  the  sickle  of  the 
reaper.  The  single  phrase,  ''an  ever  onward 
work,"  describes  the  whole. 

In  the  midst  of  this  wonderful  advancement, 
and  the  need  of  more  laborers.  Dr.  Ward  was 
stiddenly  called  away,  August,  1873,  by  con- 
sumption, —  an  efficient  worker,  taken  to  his  re- 
ward in  the  vigor  of  his  age  and  usefulness, 
and  universally  lamented.  The  Kohls,  or  Chota 
Nagpores,  —  a  tribe  attracted  from  Central  India 
to  the  Assamese  tea-gardens,  who  had  heard  of 
Christ  through  German  missionaries  in  their 
native  wilds,  —  began  about  this  time  to  yield 
fruit  in  baptized  converts.  In  1875  Rev.  A.  K. 
Gurney  joined  the  mission  at  Sibsagor. 

From  October,  1874,  to  April,  1876,  104 
Garos  were  baptized,  and  added  to  the  different 
churches.  At  the  second  annual  meeting  of 
the  Garo  Association,  in  1875,  two  hundred  dele- 
gates were  present,  "  The  Four  Gospels  had  been 
rendered  by  Mr.  Keith  into  the  Garo  language. 
Many  of  the  people  from  distant  villages  sent 


LA  TES  T  INTELLIGENCE.  1 7 1 

to  the  missionaries,  asking  for  some  one  to  teach 
them  the  way  of  life. 

Tura,  the  residence  of  Mr.  Phillips,  is,  for 
various  reasons,  a  station  of  considerable  im- 
portance. The  station  was  begun  in  Novem- 
ber, 1876.  A  native  convert  proposed,  after  the 
labors  of  the  day  were  over,  to  gather  the  people 
at  one  of  their  houses  every  evening  to  worship 
God.  During  the  year  1876,  thirty-eight  were 
baptized  at  Gowahati ;  several  were  candidates 
for  the  ordinance  on  the  Garo  Hills,  and  twenty 
in  the  out-stations.  The  Kohl  work  near  Sibsa- 
gor  was  very  encouraging :  the  church  at  that 
station  numbered  seventy-four  gf  this  tribe.  A 
church  was  formed  at  Tura  in  1877,  and  in  the 
Garo  Association  there  was  a  total  of  617  mem- 
bers. The  spirit  of  Christian  sympathy  towards 
their  fellow-Christians,  the  Teloogoos,  dying  by 
famine,  prompted  them  to  make  a  collection  for 
their  wants,  as  did  the  churches  of  Macedonia.for 
the  poor  at  Jerusalem.  Another  native  Garo, 
formerly  a  priest,  was  ordained,  in  connection 
with  the  Association.  The  same  day  six  candi- 
dates were  baptized,  —  one  of  them  a  woman, 
who  had  been  a  believer  several  years,  but  sub- 
ject to  persecution  from  her  husband.  She  now 
asked  for  baptism,  notwithstanding  his  threat  to 
cast  her  off.  Her  love  to  her  husband,  mani- 
fested by  her  desire  for  his  conversion,  was  very 
impressive ;  but  her  love  to  Christ  was  greater. 
There  are  eight  ordained  Garo  preachers  and 
two  Kohl  preachers.  A  monthly  periodical,  the 
**Orunodoi"  (The  Rising  Day),  has  been  pub- 
lished since  1846  by  the  missionaries.     A  new 


172  MISSION  TO  ASSAM. 

station  has  been  opened  at  Dibrugor,  and  Dr. 
Bronson  has  removed  thither. 

The  latest  intelligence  gives  seven  stations  in 
the  mission  to  Assam,  where  American  mis- 
sionaries reside ;  13  churches;  1,058  members  ; 
10  ordained  and  31  unordained  native  preachers  ; 
442  pupils  in  schools.  Baptized  last  year  in  con- 
nection with  Gowalpara,  132;  Tura,  6;  Gowa- 
hati,  93;  Nowgong,  8;  Sibsagor,  11  :  total,  250. 

The  mission  in  Assam  has  been  sustained 
forty-three  years, — a  little  more  than  a  genera- 
tion of  men.  It  has  conveyed  the  gospel  to 
tribe  after  tribe  in  the  hills  and  on  the  plains 
adjoining  the  Brahmaputra.  The  lives  of  valued 
men  and  women  have  been  sacrificed  in  the 
enterprise,  and  the  work  is  still  unfinished.  But 
who  can  contemplate  what  has  been  accom- 
plished in  the  history  of  "souls  renewed  and 
sins  forgiven,"  in  disciples  partly  living,  and 
partly  gone  home  to  heaven,  renovated,  elevated, 
instructed,  comforted,  sanctified,  saved,  and  in 
the  revenues  of  glory  brought  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  not  say,  "  The  work,  with  its  results, 
is  worth  all  it  has  cost "  ? 


No.   XII. 

MISSION    IN    SIAM. 

The  First  Missionary  in  Siam.  —  Geography  of  Bangkok.  —  The 
First  Baptism.  —  The  Chinese  Work  in  Bangkok.  —  Dr.  Dean  and 
other  Re-enforcements.  —  The' First  Church  Organized. — Death 
of  Mr.  Slafter.  —  Progress  and  Mystery.  —  The  New  Testament  in 
Siamese.  —  Arrival  of  Mr.  Ashmore.  —  Death  of  Dr.  Jones.  — 
Tokens  of  Growth.  —  Another  Early  Summons.  —  A  Year  of  Re- 
freshing, —  The  Siamese  Work  Suspended.  — Changes  in  the  Mis- 
sion. —  Remarkable  Ingathering.  —  Latest  Intelligence.  —  Review. 

THE  first  mission  in  Asia  undertaken  by 
the  American  Baptists,  after  the  mission 
in  Burmah,  was  the  mission  in  Siam.  The  first 
missionary  of  the  Baptist  General  Convention 
to  Siam  was  Rev.  John  Taylor  Jones.  He  was 
originally  designated  to  Burmah,  and  arrived  in 
Maulmain  in  February,  1831  ;  and  had  already 
made  such  attainments  in  the  language  of  Bur- 
mah, that  he  was  able  to  preach  to  the  people  in 
their  own  tongue.  But  he  was  set  apart  by  the 
choice  of  his  brethren  to  commence  a  mission 
in  Siam ;  and,  taking  passage  for  that  country 
by  way  of  Penang  and  Singapore,  he  arrived  in 
Bangkok  March  25,  1833. 

Bangkok  is  the   capital  of  Siam,  but  only  a 
small  portion  of  the  population  is  composed  of 

^73 


174  MISSION  IN  SI  AM, 

Siamese  people.  The  principal  races  in  the  city, 
besides  the  Siamese,  are  the  Chinese  and  Bur- 
mans.  The  city  is  twenty-five  miles  from  the 
sea,  on  the  river  Meinam,  "mother  of  waters." 
The  river  is  two  miles  wide  at  its  mouth,  but  less 
than  half  a  mile  wide  at  Bangkok,  which  covers 
an  island  in  the  river,  and  extends  along  both 
shores,  several  miles,  above  and  below.  The 
population  of  the  city  is  variously  estimated. 
Dr.  Malcom  set  it  down  at  about  100,000;  Gutz- 
laff  at  410,000;  Tomlin  estimated  the  Siamese 
population  at  8,000 ;  Abeel  thought  the  priests 
alone  numbered  10,000.  Of  the  entire  popula- 
tion of  the  city,  Gutzlaff'  estimated  the  Chinese 

at  350.000- 

The  religion  of  Siam  is  Buddhism.  In  this 
respect,  the  different  races  are  on  the  same  foot- 
ing. They  all  have  the  same  idolatry,  and  are 
alike  ignorant  of  the  true  God.  The  previous 
residence  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  in  Burmah 
prepared  them  to  be  useful  at  once  to  the  Bur- 
mese people  in  the  city ;  and  they  embraced 
every  opportunity  to  tell  them  of  the  way  of 
salvation.  During  the  period  after  they  left 
Maul  main,  and  before  they  reached  Bangkok, 
they  had  become  somewhat  acquainted  with  the 
Siamese  language,  having  studied  it,  with  the 
aid  of  such  teachers  as  they  could  find,  much  of 
the  time  for  a  period  of  six  months. 

Mr.  Jones  sat  down  to  his  solitary  work  of 
perfecting  his  knowledge  of  the  language  of  the 
Siamese,  at  the  same  time  making  known  the 
gospel  message  to  other  races  also,  as  he  had 
opportunity,  and  to   the    Chinese   through   the 


ARRIVAL    OF  DR.   DEAN.  175 

Siamese.  He  did  not  labor  lone:  without  seeino: 
some  fruit.  The  Lord's  Supper  was  adminis- 
tered for  the  first  time  in  Bangkok,  Dec.  i,  1833  J 
Mr.  Jones  and  his  wife  being  the  only  communi- 
cants. A  week  later,  Dec.  8,  the  first  baptism 
was  administered.  The  candidates  were  three 
in  number,  all  Chinese,  and  all  men. 

At  so  early  a  period  in  the  work,  considerable 
progress  had  been  already  made  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  Siamese  dictionary,  as  a  help  to  future 
missionaries.  In  this  work  Mrs.  Jones  was  an 
important  helper,  devoting  much  time  for  a 
whole  year  in  arranging  and  copying  the  mate- 
rials. The  Chinese  work  seemed  to  be  thrust 
upon  the  mission  from  the  beginning.  But  Mr. 
Jones  steadily  devoted  himself  to  laboring  for 
the  Siamese.  Notwithstanding,  a  little  assem- 
bly of  a  dozen  Chinese  was  accustomed  to  meet 
at  his  house  for  worship,  led  by  Bunti,  one  of 
the  Chinese  converts  baptized.  They  had  the 
Bible  in  Chinese,  and  several  tracts,  which  were 
freely  distributed.  Mr.  Jones  had  completed  in 
September,  1833,  a  catechism  on  geography  and 
astronomy  in  Siamese,  besides  translating  into 
that  language  a  small  Burman  tract  containing 
a  summary  of  Christian  doctrines. 

In  1834  Rev.  William  Dean  and  wife  joined 
the  mission.  This  was  the  commencement  of 
the  Chinese  department ;  and  Mr.  Dean  was  the 
first  foreigner  who  ever  studied  the  Tie  Chiu 
dialect,  which  is  the  dialect  chiefly  spoken  by 
the  Chinese  of  Bangkok.  He  first  preached  in 
that  language  in  August,  1835,  to  an  audience 
of  thirty-four.     In  two  months  the  congregation 


1 76  MISSION  IN  SI  AM. 

increased  to  fifty.  Three  more  Chinese  con- 
verts were  baptized  in  December,  1835  ;  and  one 
of  those  baptized  at  the  first  time  of  the  admin- 
istration of  the  ordinance  died  in  Christian 
triumph  in  March,  1836,  —  the  first-fruits  of  the 
Chinese  in  Bangkok  to  Christ.  In  the  mean 
time,  Messrs.  Alanson  Reed  and  J.  L.  Shuck 
had  been  appointed  missionaries  to  the  Chinese 
of  Siam,  and  sailed  from  Boston  in  September, 
1835,  reaching  Bangkok  July  i,  1836.  Mr. 
Reed  in  March,  1837,  took  a  floating  house  on 
the  river,  and  established  a  new  centre  foi 
Christian  worship  two  miles  above  Bangkok, 
from  which  many  excursions  were  made,  and 
many  tracts  distributed.  But  his  labors  were  of 
brief  duration.  On  the  29tlT  of  August,  only 
five  months  after  the  commencement  of  this 
enterprise,  he  was  called  to  put  off  the  harness 
and  to  wear  the  celestial  crown.  He  died  at 
Bangkok  at  the  early  age  of  thirty  years.  The 
same  month  Mr.  Shuck  was  transferred  to  the 
empire  of  China,  and  commenced  a  mission  in 
Macao,  which,  in  March,  1842,  was  transferred 
to  Hong  Kong. 

Mr.  Davenport,  a  preacher  and  printer,  ar- 
rived in  Bangkok  in  July,  1836,  to  join  the 
mission,  bringing  with  him  presses  and  types 
in  both  Siamese  and  Chinese.  He  labored  in 
Siam  about  nine  years,  and  then  returned  to  this 
country  on  account  of  impaired  health  ;  and  died 
of  disease  contracted  during  his  mission  life, 
Nov.  24,  1848,  aged  thirty-nine  years. 

By  March,  1837,  Mr.  Jones  had  made  some 
progress  in  translating  the  New  Testament  into 


DEATH  OF  MR.  SLAFTER.  177 

Siamese,  portions  of  which  were  printed  and  in 
circulation.  A  sheet  tract  containing  the  Ten 
Commandments  was  printed,  to  be  pasted  on 
the  walls  of  the  houses  of  the  people,  after  the 
national  custom.  On  the  ist  of  July,  1837, 
during  the  visit  of  Rev.  Mr.  Malcom,  the  first 
church  was  formed  in  Bangkok.  The  occasion 
was  one  of  rare  interest.  The  actors,  the  cir- 
cumstances, the  surroundings,  the  memories 
and  associations  of  the  past,  the  hopes  and 
promises  and  at  the  same  time  the  uncertainty 
of  the  future,  made  the  scene  one  never  to  be 
forgotten. 

In  the  year  1839  Rev.  Josiah  Goddard  was 
added  to  the  Chinese  department  of  the  mis- 
sion, and  Rev.  C.  H.  Slafter  to  the  Siamese. 
A  chapel  was  built,  and  three  Chinese  were 
added  to  the  church  by  baptism.  The  attend- 
ance on  Chinese  worship  was  about  twenty,  and 
on  the  Siamese,  from  thirty  to  fifty.  Mr.  Slafter 
carried  with  him  to  Siam  a  second  printing- 
press.  Up  to  this  date  more  than  forty  thou- 
sand copies  of  different  works  had  been  printed, 
embracing  nearly  a  million  pages.  An  English 
and  Siamese  school  was  taught  by  Mrs.  Daven- 
port ;  and  a  small  Chinese  school  by  Mrs.  Dean, 
Mrs.  Reed,  and  others. 

Mr.  Slafter's  missionary  life  was  soon  ended. 
He  reached  Bangkok  Aug.  22,  1839;  and  died 
April  7,  1840,  aged  twenty-nine.  His  widow, 
after  an  intervening  marriage,  became  the  wife 
of  Dr.  Dean,  and  still  lives,  a  loving  and  effi- 
cient worker  in  the  cause  of  missions.  The 
brief  service  which  Mr.  Slafter  was  permitted 


1 78  MISSION  IN  SIAM. 

to  render  to  the  missionary  enterprise  is  one  of 
the  mysteries  of  Divine  Providence,  concerning 
which  we  are  compelled  to  say,  "  We  know  not 
now,  but  we  shall  know  hereafter." 

In  October,  1839,  three  more  Chinese  con- 
verts were  baptized,  making  the  native  members 
nine,  and  the  whole  church,  including  mission- 
aries, seventeen.  The  New  Testament  in  Si- 
amese was  completed,  except  Hebrews  and 
Revelation,  in  December  of  this  year;  and  in 
1840  fifty -eight  thousand  copies  were  dis- 
tributed. 

In  1 841  another  step  was  taken  in  advance. 
Besides  the  baptism  of  six  Chinese  and  one 
Siamese,  a  class  in  theology  was  formed  by  Dr. 
Dean  ;  and  thus  a  beginning  was  made  of  train- 
ing native  Chinese  preachers  to  aid  in  the  work 
of  preaching  the  gospel  to  their  countrymen. 
But  in  February,  1842, — so  precarious  are  the 
plans  of  men  under  the  mysterious  operations 
of  Divine  Providence,  —  on  account  of  impaired 
health  Dr.  Dean  removed  to  Hong  Kong ;  and, 
except  for  a  brief  visit  in  aid  of  Dr.  Jones  in 
1850,  he  returned  no  more  as  a  Christian  laborer 
to  Bangkok  till  1864. 

Near  the  close  of  1843,  Mr.  J.  H.  Chandler, 
a  printer  and  machinist,  joined  the  missionary 
force,  after  a  short  residence  in  Maulmain,  and 
served  the  Union  thirteen  years.  He  was  a 
deacon  of  the  Chinese  church,  and  a  man  of  great 
mechanical  genius.  Though  not  a  preacher,  his 
influence  in  Siam  was  very  important.  Siam 
at  that  time  had  a  king  and  princes  of  intelli- 
gence and  culture,  who  understood  the  advan- 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  IN  SIAMESE,    179 

tages  of  modern  improvements,  and  desired 
their  introduction  into  the  kingdom.  One  of 
the  princes  was  in  constant  intercourse  with 
Mr.  Chandler;  and  the  latter  both  instructed 
him,  and  aided  him  in  carrying  out  his  projected 
improvements.  A  printing-office  on  his  prem- 
ises and  a  steamboat  in  the  river  Meinam  were 
among  the  fruits  of  this  enlightened  spirit  in 
the  palace.  Mr.  Chandler  was  able  by  his 
mechanical  skill  to  give  a  stimulus  to  the  nation 
in  a  new  direction,  which  in  the  end  will  un- 
doubtedly help  the  cause  of  Christianity. 

In  1844  the  missionaries  travelled  several 
miles  into  the  interior  to  distribute  tracts.  They 
made  arrangements  to  commence  an  out-station 
some  miles  away  from  Bangkok.  About  this 
time  a  house  and  land  were  purchased  in  Bang- 
kok for  aged,  poor,  and  sick  members  of  the 
church.  Thus  religion  bore  its  legitimate  fruit. 
The  same  year  the  New  Testament  in  Siamese, 
by  Dr.  Jones,  was  finished  and  published.  But 
the  next  year  mission-work  in  the  Siamese 
department  was  suspended,  on  account  of  the 
absence  of  Dr.  Jones,  who  found  it  necessary 
to  revisit  his  native  land.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daven- 
port, also  in  impaired  health,  were  obliged  to 
relinquish  the  mission.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jencks 
joined  the  mission  Dec.  14,  1846,  but  made 
only  a  brief  stay  on  account  of  the  feebleness 
of  Mrs.  Jencks,  who  died  a  year  afterwards  on 
the  passage  home.  Some  attention  was  given 
to  compiling  a  Tie  Chiu  dictionary  for  the  bene- 
fit of  present  and  future  missionaries.  Calls  for 
religious  tracts  became  more  numerous,  an  un- 


l8o  MISSION  IN  SI  AM, 

usual  number  of  which  went  into  the  families 
of  princes  and  nobles.  About  seventy  copies 
found  their  way  into  the  family  of  one  of  the 
highest  princes,  who  sent  his  servant  every 
Sabbath  for  a  long  time  to  obtain  them.  The 
Chinese  hearers  at  the  chapel  now  numbered 
from  thirty  to  forty-five. 

In  March,  1848,  Mr.  Goddard  removed  to 
Ningpo,  in  China,  and  commenced  a  mission 
there,  which  still  lives,  —  the  son  now  having  in 
efficient  charge  the  work  which  his  father  effi- 
ciently began.  Mr,  Goddard  was  a  missionary 
in  Bangkok  eight  years,  and  in  Ningpo  six,  —  a 
man  of  good  report,  and  still  spoken  of  in  China 
with  honor. 

Miss  Harriet  H.  Morse,  who  had  been  pre- 
viously connected  with  an  Indian  mission  near 
Lake  Superior,  joined  the  mission  Feb.  18, 
1848,  specially  to  labor  in  the  Siamese  depart- 
ment. She  did  excellent  service  till  January, 
1855,  when  failing  health  compelled  her  to 
return  to  America. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ashmore  joined  the  mission  in 
April,  185 1,  and  remained  in  connection  with 
it  nearly  seven  years.  Mr.  Ashmore  has  since 
been  a  most  efficient  and  trusted  missionary  at 
Swatow,  in  China.  The  native  church  now 
began  to  understand  and  practise  the  grace  of 
liberality.  In  1848-49  they  supported  the  prin- 
cipal native  assistant  entirely  for  the  year,  be- 
sides sustaining  two  schools,  in  part,  more  than 
six  months.  In  1850  the  assistant  died,  and 
Dr.  Dean  returned  for  a  few  months  from 
Hong  Kong   to  Bangkok.     The   church   num- 


DEATH  OF  DR.   JONES.  i8l 

bered  thirty-five  members,  of  whom  thirty  were 
native  believers. 

A  great  calamity  now  befell  the  mission. 
Jan.  4,  185 1,  the  buildings  and  property  of  the 
mission  were  entirely  destroyed  by  fire,  involv- 
ing a  loss  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand  dol- 
lars. And  still  another  disaster :  in  September 
of  this  year  Dr.  Jones  died,  the  father  of  the 
mission.  He  was  an  excellent  and  highly  hon- 
ored missionary,  and  won  the  respect  and  es- 
teem of  the  Siamese  court.  His  knowledge  of 
the  language  is  said  to  have  been  wonderfully 
extensive  and  accurate,  and  the  testimony  of 
some  of  the  best-educated  of  the  people  was 
that  in  this  respect  few  natives  could  equal  him. 

This  year  a  decree  was  issued,  tolerating 
Christian  worship  and  missionary  itineracy. 
By  invitation  of  the  king,  the  female  members 
of  the  mission  visited  the  palace  daily,  to  in- 
struct the  ladies  of  the  court  in  English.  The 
contributions  of  the  church  were  equal  to  one 
dollar  per  member. 

In  1853  eight  Siamese  converts  were  bap- 
tized. In  1854  Mr.  Chandler,  who  had  been 
temporarily  in  America,  returned  to  the  mis- 
sion, and  Rev.  Robert  Telford  was  added  to  the 
laborers.  He  did  faithful  service  for  ten  years, 
and  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1864,  on 
account  of  the  failure  of  Mrs.  Telford's  health. 
After  the  death  of  Dr.  Jones,  Rev.  S.  J.  Smith, 
born  in  Hindostan,  and  who  had  been  associ- 
ated with  Dr.  Jones  for  several  years,  having 
been  appointed  a  missionary  in  1848,  married 
the   widow  of   Dr.   Jones,  and   has   ever  since 


1 82  MISSION  IN  SI  AM, 

been  helpful  in  the  Siamese  work.  Mrs.  Smith, 
being  familiar  with  the  language,  taught  a 
boarding-school  of  forty-two  pupils  in  1857  at 
private  charges.  The  next  year  her  pupils 
numbered  sixty-six ;  the  Bible  and  religious 
works  were  the  principal  text-books.  Mr. 
Smith,  as  interpreter  for  the  Siamese  govern- 
ment, and  owning  an  extensive  printing-estab- 
lishment, bears  his  own  expenses,  and  labors  as 
he  has  opportunity  in  the  gospel,  without  being 
any  longer  dependent  on  the  funds  of  the  Union. 

A  second  place  of  public  worship  was  opened 
in  1859,  and  in  i860  there  was  a  period  of 
special  religious  interest.  The  native  members 
formed  a  "  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  the 
Religion  of  Jesus,"  which  supported  one  col- 
porter. 

In  1 86 1  a  new  chapel  was  erected,  and  more 
than  two  thousand  dollars  were  subscribed  to- 
wards the  building  by  the  first  and  second 
kings,  nobles,  princes,  &g.  In  1863  the  Chi- 
nese church,  by  the  departure  of  Mr.  Telford, 
was  left  without  a  missionary.  The  Chinese 
church  then  numbered  thirteen,  and  the  Siamese 
twenty-eight.  Since  that  time,  no  missionary 
has  been  sent  from  this  country  to  labor  in  the 
Siamese  department. 

In  August,  1864,  Rev.  Cyrus  A.  Chilcott 
sailed  from  New  York  to  join  the  Chinese  mis- 
sion in  Bangkok.  High  hopes  were  centred  in 
his  coming.  Young,  ardent,  gifted,  it  was  easy 
to  anticipate  for  him  many  years  of  usefulness. 
But  God  seeth  not  as  man  seeth.  In  just  one 
year  and   five   days    his   labors    on  earth  were 


A    YEAR  OF  REFRESHING.  183 

ended,  and  he  was  called  to  higher  service. 
Miss  Fielde,  his  betrothed,  left  this  country  to 
join  him,  eleven  days  before  his  death.  No  tele- 
gram could  reach  her  in  mid-ocean,  and  she 
learned  her  loss  only  on  her  arrival  in  China. 
But  she  remained  a  faithful  and  devoted  mis- 
sionary for  several  years  in  Bangkok,  and  since 
that  time  in  connection  with  the  mission  at 
Swatow,  in  China.  Dr.  Dean  returned,  after 
several  years'  absence,  to  Bangkok,  and  Miss 
Fielde  labored  under  his  direction. 

In  the  report  of  1867  is  a  mingled  wail  of 
sadness  and  song  of  hope.  The  work,  though 
feeble,  was,  in  the  judgment  of  Dr.  Dean,  wor- 
thy to  be  cherished  and  carried  forward.  Since 
the  church  was  organized,  in  1837,  fifty-one 
Chinese  had  been  baptized.  Much  preparatory 
work  had  been  done,  and  there  was  sufficient 
ground  to  labor  on  in  hope.  God  "himself 
knew  what  he  would  do"  —  as  the  sequel  will 
prove. 

Rev.  William  M.  Lisle  and  wife  joined  the 
mission,  full  of  hope,  in  January,  1868  ;  but  he 
was  almost  immediately  prostrated  by  disease, 
and  compelled  to  flee  for  his  life  to  his  native 
land.  The  next  year,  1869,  the  mission  was 
re-enforced  by  Rev.  S.  B.  and  Mrs.  Partridge.- 
Mr.  Partridge  had  been  a  signal-officer  of  great 
bravery  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  and 
was  fitted  to  do  valiant  service  for  Christ.  He 
came  at  the  right  time.  The  year  preceding 
had  been  a  year  of  precious  ingathering,  such 
as  the  mission  had  never  seen,  and  forty-five 
Chinese   converts   were   baptized,  —  a   number 


1 84  MISSION  IN  SI  AM. 

equal  to  all  that  had  been  baptized  during  the 
preceding  thirty  years  of  the  mission.  Many 
of  these  conv^erts  resided  at  the  out-stations, 
and  they  were  the  garnered  fruit  of  the  labors 
of  many  missionaries  now  departed  or  fallen 
asleep.  The  year  1868  was  also  a  year  of  rich 
blessing.  Two  chapels  were  dedicated,  and  two 
churches  organized  at  the  out-stations. 

In  1869  the  work  for  the  specific  benefit  of 
the  Siamese  was  suspended,  for  the  reasons 
that  no  very  satisfactory  results  of  labor  had 
been  reported  for  several  years,  the  work  for 
the  Chinese  in  Bangkok  was  far  more  encoura- 
ging, and  other  fields  of  more  promise  claimed 
all  the  funds  that  were  at  the  command  of  the 
Committee.  Notwithstanding,  through  the  pres- 
ent Mrs.  Dean  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  S.  J.  Smith, 
all  of  whom  understand  the  Siamese  language, 
seed  has  continued  to  be  sown  among  the  people 
of  that  race,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  be  watched 
over  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  by  and  by  bring 
forth  fruit  unto  eternal  life. 

In  1 871  Miss  Fielde  was  transferred  to  the 
station  at  Swatow.  In  1872  the  question  was 
suggested  by  the  Executive  Committee,  whether 
it  was  expedient  to  maintain  a  mission  for  the 
Chinese  at  Bangkok,  instead  of  concentrating 
the  efforts  of  the  brethren  on  some  spot  in  the 
great  empire  of  China  itself.  Dr.  Dean,  with 
his  knowledge  and  wide  and  long  experience, 
favored  the  continuance  of  the  work  in  Bang- 
kok. Mr.  Partridge,  however,  was  transferred 
to  Swatow  four  years  from  the  time  he  began 
his  work ;  and    Dr.  Dean  was  left  alone,  with 


REMARKABLE  INGATHERING.  185 

his  family,  in  Bangkok,  in  charge  of  the  Chi- 
nese department.  Mrs.  Dean,  who  learned  the 
Siamese  language  in  the  earlier  period  of  her 
residence  in  Siam,  continued  to  teach  the 
women  and  children  of  that  race;  and  in  1872 
two  of  the  former  were  baptized.  The  number 
of  members  on  the  roll  of  the  three  churches 
was  seventy-eight ;  but  the  lamp  burned  some- 
what dimly.  However,  in  the  year  1873,  thirty 
were  baptized,  and  three  or  four  young  men 
were  instructed  in  a  theological  class,  with  ref- 
erence to  future  usefulness  as  preachers  of  the 
gospel. 

The  year  1874  was  the  most  remarkable  in 
the  entire  history  of  the  mission.  All  the  out- 
stations  received  large  additions  by  baptism,  as 
well  as  Bangkok ;  two  new  churches  were  con- 
stituted, two  chapels  were  finished,  and  a 
pastor  ordained.  The  spirit  of  inquiry  was 
awakened  among  the  Siamese :  the  women,  and 
even  Buddhist  priests,  came  to  Mrs.  Dean  for 
instruction.  Many  others  abandoned  idolatry, 
and  asked  for  baptism,  professing  their  purpose 
to  lead  Christian  lives.  When  we  hear  of 
eleven  baptized  at  one  station,  seventeen  at 
another,  twenty-five  at  a  third,  and  eighty-four 
at  a  fourth,  we  cannot  forbear  to  exclaim,  "What 
hath  God  wrought ! "  The  additions  by  baptism 
to  all  the  churches  were  one  hundred  and  forty. 
The  pastor's  heart  was  made  glad,  like  Simeon's 
in  the  temple.  The  work  continued  into  the 
next  year,  and  ninety  more  were  baptized,  mak- 
ing the  whole  number  three  hundred  and  seven- 
teen.    The    following    is    a   summary   of    Dr 


1 86  MISSION  IN  SI  AM. 

Dean's  labors  up  Fo  the  year  1876.  In  his 
forty  years  of  service,  Dr.  Dean  has  gathered 
six  Chinese  churches,  superintended  the  build- 
ing of  four  Chinese  chapels,  ordained  three 
Chinese  pastors,  besides  training  two  who  were 
ordained  by  others,  and  baptized  three  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  Chinese  disciples,  of  whom 
twelve  became  preachers  of  the  gospel. 

The  year  1876  indicated  a  natural  re-action 
after  so  great  a  blessing.  This  year  also  Dr. 
Dean  made  another  brief  visit  to  his  native 
land  ;  and  his  absence  was  evidently  felt  by  the 
people,  who,  notwithstanding  the  presence  of 
their  native  pastors,  were  as  sheep  without  a 
shepherd. 

In  1877  we  find  a  report  of  six  churches,  418 
members,  and  61  baptized  during  the  year.  At 
one  of  the  out-stations  24  were  baptized,  and  80 
sat  down  together  at  the  Lord's  Supper.  Every 
one  of  the  newly  baptized  gave  his  contribution 
towards  a  new  chapel  about  to  be  built.  At 
another  out-station,  seven  were  baptized,  and 
another  chapel  in  the  place  of  one  that  had 
been  burned  was  projected.  The  pastor  was 
a  Chinese  convert,  the  first  baptized  at  that 
point.  A  very  effective  force  of  native  preach- 
ers is  being  raised  up ;  one  of  the  native  preach- 
ers is  supported  by  the  church,  another  by 
Dr.  Dean.  There  are  seven  chapels,  two  or- 
dained and  six  unordained  native  preachers,  six 
churches,  and  five  out-stations.  The  Chinese 
work  in  Bangkok  is  apparently  crystallizing  into 
permanent  form,  and  with  an  increase  of  labor- 
ers it  would  be  even  more  fruitful. 


REVIEW.  187 

Singularly  enough  the  Government  of  Siam 
has  arrayed  itself  in  favor  of  the  religion  of 
Christ.  A  proclamation  was  issued  in  October, 
1878,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract :  — 

"Whoever  is  of  the  opinion  that  any  particular  reli- 
gion is  correct,  let  him  hold  to  it  as  he  pleases :  the  right 
or  wrong  will  be  to  the  person  who  holds  to  it.  In  the 
treaties  and  in  the  customs  of  the  kingdom  of  Siam, 
there  is  no  prohibition  against  persons  who  shall  hold 
to  any  particular  religion.  If  any  one  is  of  the  opinion 
that  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  good,  let  him  hold 
to  it  freely. 

"  Whenever  there  is  government  work,  persons  who 
hold  to  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  must  perform  it. 
No  religion  is  henceforth  allowed  to  interfere  in  govern- 
ment work.  Whoever  shall  hold  to  any  system  of  reli- 
gion, let  him  do  so  freely.  Let  no  Phraya  Lao,  Taosaan, 
or  common  person,  being  a  relative  or  a  master  of  a  per- 
son holding  to  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  interfere  in 
any  affair  which  that  religion  does  not  permit  or  allow 
to  be  done,  as  worshipping  spirits,  feasting  spirits,  and 
various  employments  on  Sunday.  Let  there  be  no  com- 
pulsion or  constraint  to  practise  or  to  do  any  thing  of  the 
kind  :  it  is  absolutely  forbidden.  Only  war  and  business 
of  absolute  importance  are  excepted.  At  such  times  they 
must  serve  on  Sunday,  but  let  there  be  no  impositions." 

The  mission  to  the  people  of  Bangkok  has 
been  full  of  vicissitudes  ;  and  the  residence  of 
the  missionaries  there  has  been,  generally,  of 
brief  duration.  Dr.  Jones,  the  first  resident  at 
the  station,  was  there  eighteen  years  ;  Dr.  Dean 
has  labored  there  twenty-two  years ;  Mr.  Daven- 
port and  Mr.  Telford,  nine  years  each ;  Mr.  God- 
dard,  seven  and  a  half ;  Dr.  Ashmore  and  Miss 
Morse,  seven  years  each  ;  Miss  Ficldc,  six  years ; 
Mr.    Partridge,  four   years ;    Mr.   Chilcott,    one 


1 88  MISSION  IN  SI  AM. 

year ;  Mr.  Slafter,  less  than  eight  months ;  Mr. 
Reed,  five  months ;  and  Mr.  Lisle  was  forced  to 
return  home  immediately  after  his  arrival.  Dr. 
Jones,  Messrs.  Davenport,  Goddard,  Chilcott, 
Slafter,  and  Reed,  are  dead ;  Dr.  Ashmore,  Mr. 
Partridge  and  wife,  and  Miss  Fielde,  were  trans- 
ferred to  China. 

The  history  of  this  mission  illustrates  the  na- 
ture of  the  pilgrim-life  of  missionaries,  moving 
hither  and  thither  like  shepherds*  tents ;  the 
long  and  discouraging  labors  which  often  seem 
of  little  avail ;  and  the  manner  in  which,  at  his 
*'  set  time,"  God  interposes,  and  the  seed,  long 
buried,  springs  to  life,  and  brings  forth  fruit. 

Dr.  Dean  wrote,  some  time  since,  in  this 
strain  :  "  The  cause  is  the  Lord's,  and  his  work 
is  soon  to  prevail,  however  much  may  be  the 
trial  to  our  faith  and  patience.  The  everlasting 
God,  Jehovah,  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary: 
therefore  we  need  not  faint.'* 


No.  XIII. 

MISSION  TO  THE  TELOOGOOS. 

Geography.  —  Preparatory  Work.  —  The  Mission  begun.  —  The 
Work  in  Madras.  —  The  Station  at  Nellore.  —  Re-enforcement.  — 
Church  constituted.  —  The  Missionaries  return  Home.  —  Shall  the 
Mission  be  relinquished  ?  —  Mr.  Jewett  joins  the  Mission.  —  "  The 
Lone  Star."  —  Re-enforcement.  —  The  Lonely  Prayer-Meetinj.  — 
Revival.  —  The  Young  Surveyor.  —  The  Missionary  at  Ongole.  — 
A  Vigorous  Advance.  —  New  Churches  and  Helpers.  —  "  Four  Men 
for  the  Teloogoos."  —  On  a  New  Key. — Theological  Seminary. — 
Church  at  Alloor.  —  New  Blessings.  —  Days  of  Darkness.  —  Faith's 
Predictions.  —  The  Famine.  —  The  New  Pentecost.  —  Present 
State  of  the  Mission.  —  Faith's  Victory. 

THE  Teloogoos  number  about  eighteen  mil- 
lions, and  are  found  in  a  territory  extend- 
ing along  the  western  coast  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal, 
six  or  seven  hundred  miles  in  length  from  north 
to  south,  and  reaching  from  the  coast  inland  a 
distance  of  three  or  four  hundred  miles  from 
east  to  west.  The  places  most  frequently  men- 
tioned in  this  sketch  are  Nellore,  one  hundred 
and  ten  miles  north  of  Madras,  and  one  thou- 
sand miles  from  Calcutta ;  Ongole,  seventy-three 
miles  north  of  Nellore  ;  Ramapatam,  forty-five 
miles  from  Nellore,  and  intermediate  between 
the  two  former,  and  all  three  on  the  coast  or 
within  a  few  miles  of  it ;  Masulipatam,  Cocona- 
da,  and  Vizigapatam,  north-east  of  Ongole,  and 

189 


190  MISSION  TO    THE    TELOOGOOS. 

in  the  order  in  which  they  are  here  written. 
Secunderabad  is  north-west  of  Nellore,  being  in 
the  interior  of  India,  and  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty miles  from  Ongole. 

The  Teloogoos,  though  a  distinct  people,  yet, 
like  the  Jews,  are  a  nation  without  a  country, 
having  no  territory  which  they  can  call  their 
own.  Besides  the  densely -peopled  regions 
where  they  chiefly  dwell,  they  are  found  in  con. 
siderable  numbers  in  all  the  towns  and  cities  of 
Southern  India,  and  many  individuals  push  their 
way  across  the  Bay  of  Bengal  into  Burmah  and 
other  kingdoms.  From  one-sixth  to  one-half  of 
the  people  of  Madras  are  said  to  be  Teloogoos. 
Several  of  them  are  found  in  Burmah,  and  some 
of  them  have  embraced  the  gospel  in  Rangoon, 
Their  language,  though  difficult  of  acquisition, 
is  wonderfully  smooth  and  sweet,  so  that  it  is 
often  called  the  Italian  of  India. 

The  largest  city  of  the  Teloogoos  is  Masuli- 
patam,  which  has  a  population  of  eighty  thou- 
sand. The  other  leading  cities  are  Nellore, 
Guntoor,  Vizigapatam,  Chicacole,  Berhampore, 
and  Ganjam,  numbering  from  twelve  thousand 
to  twenty  thousand  each. 

Their  religion  is  Brahminism.  Caste  prevails 
among  the  Teloogoos,  which  puts  impassable 
barriers  between  the  different  classes  of  society, 
and  is  a  serious  hinderance  to  the  progress  of 
Christianity. 

The  attention  of  American  Baptists  was  first 
directed  to  the  Teloogoos  in  1835,  by  the  Rev. 
Amos  Sutton,  a  missionary  in  Orissa,  a  province 
which  lies  north  of  Madras.     Mr.  Sutton  had 


THE  MISSION  BEGUN.  191 

married  Mrs.  Colman,  widow  of  Rev.  James 
Colman,  one  of  our  earliest  missionaries  to  Bur« 
mah,  and  who  had  remained  in  India  after  the 
death  of  her  husband.  Thus  an  indirect  rela- 
tion seemed  to  subsist  between  the  earliest 
work  of  American  Baptists  in  Burmah,  and  the 
mission  to  the  Teloogoos. 

The  London  Missionary  Society  sent  mission- 
aries in  1805  to  the  Teloogoos,  —  the  earliest 
mission  of  that  Society  in  India ;  but  the  enter- 
prise was  attended  with  little  or  no  success,  and 
was  practically  abandoned.  A .  grammar  and 
dictionary  of  the  language,  however,  were  pre- 
pared, and  the  Serampore  missionaries  trans- 
lated the  entire  Bible  into  Teloogoo :  the  New 
Testament  and  portions  of  the  Old  were  printed 
between  181 7  and  1821.  Teloogoo  hymns  and 
a  translation  of  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  were 
printed  later. 

At  the  triennial  meeting  of  the  Baptist  Gen- 
eral Convention  in  Richmond,  in  April,  1835, 
the  Board  were  authorized  to  ''  establish  new  mis- 
sions in  every  unoccupied  field  where  there  was 
a  reasonable  prospect  of  success."  Encour- 
aged by  this  direction,  the  Board  decided  to 
comply  with  the  recommendation  of  Mr.  Sut- 
ton, and  to  establish  a  mission  among  the 
Teloogoos. 

It  was  on  the  20th  of  September,  1835,  that 
Rev.  Samuel  S.  Day  and  wife,  and  Rev.  Elisha 
L.  Abbott,  received  their  public  instructions  as 
missionaries  to  the  Teloogoos ;  and  two  days 
afterwards  they  sailed  from  Boston  in  company 
with  Rev.  Dr.  Malcom   and  a  large  number  of 


192  MISSION  TO    THE   TELOOGOOS, 

missionaries  to  the  East,  among  whom  was  Rev. 
Amos  Sutton.  On  their  arrival  in  Calcutta  in 
February,  1836,  it  was  decided  that  Mr.  Abbott 
should  join  the  Karen  Mission  in  British  Bur- 
mah,  whither  he  went  immediately,  and  left  Mr. 
•Day  to  commence  the  Teloogoo  Mission. 

Mr.  Day  took  up  his  residence  at  Vizagapa- 
tam,  one  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  Teloogoo 
people,  engaged  a  Brahmin  for  his  teacher,  and 
commenced  the  study  of  the  language ;  but  in 
August,  1836,  he  removed  to  Chicacole,  and 
there  began  direct  efforts  for  the  evangelization 
of  the  people.  Schools  were  established ;  and 
strangers  came  from  a  distance  of  thirty  or 
forty  miles,  to  inquire  about  the  new  religion. 
In  a  tour  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  into 
the  interior,  Mr.  Day  visited  forty  towns  and 
villages,  and  found  many  of  them  inviting  fields 
of  labor,  though  in  several  of  them  a  missionary, 
or  even  a  native  Christian,  had  never  been  seen 
before. 

In  the  following  March,  1837,  Madras  was 
fixed  upon  as  the  seat  of  the  mission.  Three 
schools  were  established ;  a  native  preacher  from 
Berhampore,  who  accompanied  Mr.  Day,  main- 
tained public  worship  in  Teloogoo ;  and  Mr. 
Day  preached  to  the  British  residents  in  Eng- 
lish. Many  tracts  and  portions  of  Scripture 
were  distributed  among  the  native  population 
of  the  higher  and  middle  classes ;  and  it  was 
found  that  a  large  portion  of  the  people,  espe- 
cially the  males,  were  able  to  read.  A  church 
was  organized,  consisting  of  sixteen  members, 
English,  Eurasians,  Hindoos,  and  Burmans,  with 


THE  STATION  AT  NELLORE.  193 

a  branch  at  Bellary,  where  there  was  a  branch 
of  the  Maulmain  English  Church,  composed  of 
soldiers  of  the  regiment  stationed  there. 

But  Mr.  Day  felt  the  importance  of  having  a 
location  where  he  could  exert  a  more  direct 
influence  on  the  Teloogoos.  Notwithstanding 
all  his  efforts  and  all  his  success  hitherto,  not  a 
Teloogoo  had  yet  embraced  Christ.  Congrega- 
tions of  from  twenty-five  to  a  hundred  gathered 
around  him  in  the  street ;  but  they  met  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  with  the  same  objec- 
tions which  Carey  had  encountered  nearly  half 
a  century  before.  They  circulated  evil  and 
false  reports,  hoping  to  abridge  or  destroy  his 
influence.  Once,  while  he  was  preaching  at  a 
festival,  blows  were  used :  he  was  severely 
beaten,  driven  back  through  a  narrow  street, 
and  barely  escaped  being  trampled  to  death. 

Just  at  this  time  a  native  assistant,  a  Tamil 
man  from  Nellore,  a  place  inhabited  wholly 
by  Teloogoos,  called  the  attention  of  Mr.  Day 
to  this  inviting  field ;  and  in  1840  Mr.  Day  re- 
moved thither  with  his  family.  Shortly  after- 
wards, Rev.  Stephen  Van  Husen  and  wife 
joined  the  mission  ;  and  on  the  27th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1840,  Mr.  Day  baptized  the  first  Chris- 
tian convert  from  among  the  Teloogoos.  A 
compound  of  eight  acres  was  obtained,  and  a 
mission-house  and  zayat  were  built.  The  church 
at  Madras,  left  without  a  leader,  in  due  time 
ceased  to  exist ;  but  some  of  its  members  joined 
a  church  a  few  miles  distant  from  the  city. 

In  1842  two  assistants  were  under  instruc- 
tion,  and    several    natives    gave    evidence    of 


194  MISSION  TO   Tim   TELOOGOOS. 

conversion.  In  1843  three  more  were  bap- 
tized, one  a  Teloogoo  woman,  and  another  of 
Teloogoo  extraction.  Oct.  12,  1844,  a  church 
was  constituted  in  Nellore,  of  eight  members, 
including  the  missionaries  and  their  wives. 
The  schools  of  the  mission  were  prosperous ; 
and  many  parents  were  willing  to  have  their 
children  attend,  who  would  not  admit  a  niis- 
sionary  into  their  houses.  In  the  mean  time, 
much  preaching  was  done  in  the  highways  and 
at  the  corners  of  the  streets.  The  parents 
visited  the  schools,  where  they  heard  more  or 
less  of  gospel  truth.  The  seed  was  sown 
among  the  people ;  and,  though  there  was  no 
marked  attention,  the  servants  of  God  had 
learned  to  labor  and  wait  in  patience  and  hope. 
But,  in  the  year  1845,  both  the  missionaries 
were  compelled  by  failing  health  to  retire  from 
the  mission  ;  and  it  was  left  without  any  Ameri- 
can head  for  more  than  three  years.  Mr.  Van 
Husen  reached  this  country  in  October,  and 
never  resumed  the  mission-work  in  India.  He 
died  in  Brattleborough,  Vt.,  in  December,  1854, 
aged  forty-two.  The  same  month  that  Mr.  Van 
Husen  arrived  in  the  United  States,  Mr.  Day 
was  completely  prostrated,  and  arrived  home  in 
June,  1846.  So  sudden  and  severe  was  the  sick- 
ness of  Mr.  Day,  that  he  was  unable  to  make  any 
provision  for  the  continuance  of  the  work  at 
Nellore.  The  mission  property,  the  schools 
and  the  little  church,  embracing  only  two  Teloo- 
goo converts,  were  taken  in  charge  by  a  Eura- 
sian preacher,  aided  by  two  native  Christians. 
It  was  a  time  for  unbelief  to  triumph,  and  to 


SHALL  THE  MISSION  BE  RELINQUISHED?    195 

cry,  "  Ten  years  of  missionary  labor,  and  this  is 
all  the  fruit !  " 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Union  the  ques- 
tion came  up  for  debate,  "  Shall  the  Teloogoo 
Mission  be  abandoned,  or  shall  it  be  continued 
and  re-enforced  ?  "  Many  lacked  faith  and  cour- 
age, and  were  inclined  to  abandon  it,  and  ex- 
pend the  funds  of  the  churches  on  more  promis- 
ing fields.  And  perhaps  it  was  only  the  melting 
eloquence  of  Dr.  Judson,  who  was  providentially 
present,  during  his  visit  to  this  country,  that 
saved  it.  God  had  honored  him  already.  He 
honored  him  now  again,  as  the  sequel  will 
show.  When  he  stood  up  before  that  vast 
audience,  scarcely  able  to  utter  a  word  so  as  to 
be  heard,  but  with  his  pleading  countenance 
interceded  for  the  mission,  saying,  '*  I  would 
cheerfully,  at  my  age,  cross  the  Bay  of  Bengal, 
and  learn  a  new  language,  rather  than  lift  up 
my  hand  for  the  abandonment  of  this  work,"  — 
it  was  a  scene  and  a  plea  not  to  be  resisted. 
Many  a  tearful  eye  looked  up  to  heaven  with 
new  faith  and  consecration,  and  many  a  throb- 
bing heart  felt  a  new  pulsation  of  missionary 
zeal.  Mr.  Day  also  strenuously  urged  that  the 
mission  should  be  continued  and  re-enforced. 
Mr.  Sutton,  of  Orissa,  bearing'his  last  testimony 
before  the  churches  of  America,  and  about  to 
return  to  his  chosen  field  to  labor  and  to  die, 
lifted  up  his  voice  in  behalf  of  "  the  little  one," 
in  confident  faith  that  God  would  yet  make  it 
"a  strong  nation."  The  pleas  were  successful, 
for  the  time.  It  was  determined,  for  the  pres- 
ent at  least,  not  to  advise  the  dissolution  of  the 


196  MISSION  TO   THE    TE  LOO  GO  OS. 

mission,  but  wait  for  further  indications  of 
Providence,  leaving  events  to  decide  the  policy 
to  be  pursued. 

In  1848  the  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Troy, 
N.Y.  Many  still  looked  on  the  continuance  of 
the  mission  with  doubt.  Its  fate  trembled  in 
the  balance.  Shall  the  little  one  live,  and  be  a 
blessing  to  the  heathen,  an  honor  to  faith,  and 
a  glory  to  the  God  of  missions .?  Or  shall  its 
untimely  abandonment  bring  discouragement 
to  the  church  of  Christ,  a  death-blow  to  the 
work  at  Nellore,  and  a  stain  on  the  faith  of 
God's  people  ?  Shall  these  years  of  labor  and 
hardship  be  thrown  away,  and  the  seed  sown 
never  yield  any  fruit }  Or  has  God  better 
things  in  store  .'*  The  Committee  discussed  the 
subject,  and  threw  the  responsibility  on  the 
Board.  The  Board  discussed  the  subject,  and 
threw  the  responsibility  on  the  Union.  What 
was  to  be  the  final  result } 

Just  then  Mr.  Day  had  so  far  recovered  his 
health,  that  he  felt  able  to  go  back  to  his  work. 
A  new  missionary,  Rev.  Lyman  Jewett,  a  man 
of  rare  faith  in  God,  and  devotion  to  his  service, 
was  ready  and  anxious  to  accompany  Mr.  Day 
to  the  Teloogoo  field.  And  the  resolution  was 
passed  to  re-open"  the  mission  by  sending  out 
Mr.  Day,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jewett.  They 
sailed  from  Boston  Oct.  10,  1848,  and  arrived 
in  Nellore  April  16,  1849.  There  were  soon 
two  hundred  and  fifty  children  in  mission- 
schools,  and  a  Sabbath  school  of  two  hundred. 
Mr.  Jewett  preached  his  first  Teloogoo  sermon 
in  the  chapel,  Dec.  3,  1849,  only  eight  months 


"  THE  LONE  star:'  197 

after  his  arrival.  The  brethren  visited  three 
heathen  festivals  that  year,  where  from  thirty- 
thousand  to  forty  thousand  were  gathered, 
many  of  whom  heard  the  word  of  life.  The 
next  year  there  was  daily  preaching  in  the 
streets,  and  full  fifty  thousand  must  have  had 
set  before  them  the  way  of  salvation.  Tracts 
were  eagerly  received,  and  very  few  were  de- 
stroyed, and  two  females  were  converted.  The 
audiences  in  the  chapel  numbered,  in  185 1,  from 
forty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty.  There  were 
three  native  assistants,  and  thousands  of  copies 
of  portions  of  the  Scriptures  were  given  away. 
One  only  was  baptized,  but  there  were  some 
inquirers. 

In  1853  Mr.  Day,  again  disabled,  returned 
to  this  country,  leaving  Mr.  Jewett  the  only 
laborer.  At  the  anniversary  meeting  that  year 
in  Albany,  the  old  question  of  abandonment 
came  up  anew.  The  brethren  seemed  to  have 
a  chronic  propensity  to  fall  upon  this  theme. 
Five  more  years  had  passed  away,  filled  with 
exhausting  toil,  and  there  was  very  little  to 
reward  the  hope  of  the  sower.  It  was  recom- 
mended in  the  report  of  the  two  brethren  who 
had  visited  the  mission  the  preceding  January, 
that  the  mission  should  be  either  re-enforced  or 
relinquished.  The  question  was.  Which }  An 
entire  evening  was  devoted  to  the  discussion. 
"The  Lone  Star  Mission,"  as  it  was  denomi- 
nated by  one  of  the  speakers,  as  being  the  only 
mission  of  the  Union  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Bay  of  Bengal,  again  trembled  in  the  balance. 
But  words  of  courage  and  faith  were  suoken. 


198  MISSION   TO    THE    TELOOGOOS. 

The  writer  of  these  "  Sketches "  was  present, 
and,  impressed  by  the  scenes  of  the  evening, 
before  retiring  to  rest,  wrote  the  following  stan- 
zas, on 

"THE   LONE   STAR." 

Shine  on,  "  Lone  Star  !  "  thy  radiance  bright 
Shall  spread  o'er  all  the  eastern  sky; 

Morn  breaks  apace  from  gloom  and  night; 
Shine  on,  and  bless  the  pilgrim's  eye. 

Shine  on,  "  Lone  Star!"  I  would  not  dim 
The  light  that  gleams  with  dubious  ray  : 

The  lonely  star  of  Bethlehem 
Led  on  a  bright  and  glorious  day. 

Shine  on,  "  Lone  Star !  "  in  grief  and  tears 

And  sad  reverses  oft  baptized ; 
Shine  on  amid  thy  sister  spheres : 

Lone  stars  in  heaven  are  not  despised. 

Shine  on,  "  Lone  Star  !  "  who  lifts  his  hand 

To  dash  to  earth  so  bright  a  gem, 
A  new  "  lost  pleiad  "  from  the  band 

That  sparkles  in  night's  diadem  ? 

Shine  on,  "  Lone  Star  !  "  the  day  draws  near 
When  none  sliall  shine  more  fair  than  thou : 

Thou,  born  and  nursed  in  doubt  and  fear, 
Wilt  glitter  on  Immanuel's  brow. 

Shine  on,  "  Lone  Star !  "  till  earth,  redeemed, 

In  dust  shall  bid  its  idols  fall; 
And  thousands,  where  thy  radiance  beamed. 

Shall  "  crown  the  Saviour  Lord  of  all." 

The  little  poem,  which  has  since  been  hon- 
ored with  the  title  of  **  prophetic,"  was  read  the 
next  morning  at  the  breakfast-table   of  Judge 


THE  L  ONEL  V  PR  A  YER-MEE  TING.        1 9  9 

Harris,  the  chairman  of  the  meeting  of  the 
evening  before,  and  struck  chords  that  vibrated 
responsively.  The  conclusion  had  already  been 
reached.  Before  the  meeting  broke  up,  the 
Board  were  directed  "  suitably  to  re-enforce  the 
Teloogoo  Mission,  provided  that  it  can  be  done 
consistently  with  the  claims  of  Southern  Bur- 
mah." 

That  same  year,  1853,  Mr.  Day  was  compelled 
by  the  failure  of  his  health  again  to  relinquish 
the  mission ;  and  he  returned  to  it  again  no 
more.  Mr.  Jewett  was  left  alone ;  but  early  in 
1855  Rev.  F.  A.  Douglass  joined  the  mission. 
Efficient  work  was  done ;  and  a  few  souls  were 
converted,  and  added  to  the  church.  It  was  in 
1853  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jewett  first  visited  On- 
gole,  containing  a  population  of  about  six  thou- 
sand, all  Teloogoos.  They  were  accompanied  by 
one  of  the  native  Christians,  to  aid  them  in  mak- 
ing known  the  glad  tidings  of  the  grace  of  God. 
In  the  daytime  they  preached  the  gospel  in  the 
thoroughfares  of  the  city,  where  they  were  re- 
viled and  stoned.  The  work  of  the  day  having 
been  done,  seemingly  in  vain,  the  three  as- 
cended a  hill  overlooking  the  town  ;  and  there, 
having  sung  a  hymn,  they  prayed  God  to  send 
a  missionary  to  Ongole. 

The  years  roll  away,  with  labors  incessant 
and  often  discouraging.  A  few  were  converted 
and  baptized.  The  tract  ''Come  to  Jesus"  was 
printed,  and  10,000  copies  were  scattered  broad- 
cast. A  company  of  farmers  in  one  instance 
came  from  UUoor,  twenty  miles  distant,  to 
inquire   after  the  way  of  life.     In    1857  came 


200  MISSION  TO   THE   TELOOGOOS, 

the  Indian  mutiny.  Mr.  Douglass  had  already 
gone  to  Madras  on  account  of  the  health  of  his 
family,  and  was  absent  a  year.  On  account  of 
the  perilous  state  of  the  country,  Mr.  Jewett 
was  constrained  to  follow  him.  Two  native 
helpers  died.  But  discouragement  was  not 
alone.  In  the  boarding-school,  numbering 
forty-five  pupils,  there  was  a  Society  for  the  pro- 
motion of  Christian  education,  which  raised  in 
nine  months,  with  the  aid  of  European  resi- 
dents, one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  A  revival 
of  religion  added  thirteen  to  the  church  by  bap- 
tism in  1858,  and  five  in  1859.  The  revival  in 
1858  was  very  remarkable.  It  was  evidently 
God's  work.  First,  two  women  applied  for  ad- 
mission to  the  church.  "  I  felt  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  coming  down  upon  us,"  said 
one  of  the  members.  "  I  trembled  exceeding- 
ly," said  another,  not  a  Christian.  Soon  after- 
wards six  converts  were  baptized.  One  of 
them,  this  woman  who  **  trembled  exceedingly," 
said,  *'My  heart  overflows  with  joy."  "They 
will  soon  come  in  crowds,"  said  the  father  of 
one  of  the  candidates ;  and  soon  after  he  came 
himself.  One  morning  at  breakfast  a  woman  in 
Mr.  Douglass's  family  began  to  tremble  and 
weep  profusely.  "No  one,"  she  said,  "knows 
the  cause  of  my  grief."  Late  in  the  night  she 
came  to  beg  for  prayers.  But  prayer  was 
changed  to  praise.  There  was  no  more  sleep ; 
and  for  the  next  ten  days  she  went  from  room 
to  room,  telling  all  she  met  of  the  preciousness 
of  Christ.  In  a  few  days  her  joyful  experience 
bore  fruit  in  the  conversion  of  two  others.     The 


REVIVAL.  20 1 

next  year  a  promising  pupil  in  the  school  died 
in  Christian  triumph,  another  Divine  seal  in  ap- 
proval of  the  labors  of  the  mission,  and  a  proof 
that  with  such  efforts  God  is  well  pleased. 

Near  the  close  of  1861,  Mr.  Jewett,  disabled 
by  his  labors  and  the  climate,  was  compelled  to 
flee.  First  he  visited  Madras,  then  returned  to 
Nellore,  then  again  to  Ongole,  and  back  again 
to  Madras,  from  which  he  sailed  on  his  way 
home  in  March,  1862.  Before  he  left,  Kona- 
kiah  received  ordination,  the  first  of  his  race  to 
be  invested  with  this  honorable  trust. 

At  the  anniversary  in  Providence  in  1862, 
the  abandonment  of  the  mission  was  again  dis- 
cussed ;  by  some,  it  was  earnestly  urged.  But, 
"Wait,"  said  the  secretary,  ''wait,  brethren. 
Ye  know  not  what  ye  are  doing.  Wait :  let  us 
hear  what  brother  Jewett,  who  is  now  on  his 
journey  home,  has  to  say  on  this  question." 
And  Mr.  Jewett  never  relaxed  his  confidence 
in  the  God  of  missions.  "The  Lone  Star 
Mission "  was  precious  to  him  beyond  expres- 
sion. With  the  vision  of  faith  he  beheld  a  day 
breaking  for  the  millions  of  that  benighted 
people. 

On  his  arrival  home  Mr.  Jewett  was  consulted. 
He  expressed  his  purpose,  in  most  emphatic 
terms,  never  to  give  up  the  Teloogoo  Mission, 
"Well,  brother,"  said  the  secretary,  "if  you  are 
so  resolved  to  return,  we  must  send  somebody 
with  you  to  bury  you.  You  certainly  ought  to 
have  a  Christian  burial  in  that  heathen  land." 

In  the  oak-openings  and  untilled  forests  of 
Iowa,  a  young  engineer  was   about   this   time 


202  MISSION  TO    THE    TELOOGOOS. 

surveying  lands  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  thinking  only  of  devoting  his  life  to  this 
employment.  But  he  received  the  anointing  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  God  wanted  him  to  survey 
unknown  lands  for  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ. 
He  went  to  study  for  a  season  in  the  Burlington 
University,  Iowa,  and  then  sailed  for  the  land 
of  the  Teloogoos.  This  was  the  Rev.  John  E. 
Clough.  The  prayer  on  "prayer-meeting  hill," 
overlooking  Ongole,  twelve  years  before,  was 
answered ;  and  this  was  the  missionary  for  On- 
gole. 

Mr.  Clough  remained  at  Nellore  a  short  time, 
but  soon  began  to  labor  directly  for  the  Teloo- 
goos. Nov.  5,  1865,  he  baptized  four  converts, 
and  wrote  thus  hopefully  of  the  future :  "  God 
is  sending  us  his  elect,  a  great  multitude  of 
whom  we  expect  to  see  here  among  the  Teloo- 
goos ere  many  years,  who  shall  come  out  from 
heathenism."  Mr.  Jewett  had  at  that  time  a 
class  in  theology,  showing  that  the  work  of 
training  native  preachers  was  begun.  As  soon 
as  Messrs.  Jewett  and  Clough  arrived,  Mr. 
Douglass,  whose  health  and  that  of  his  family 
had  for  some  time  been  precarious,  left  the 
mission,  and  returned  home.  His  last  work 
was  to  baptize  five  converts,  who,  with  six 
others  baptized  by  Mr.  Jewett,  made  an  addi- 
tion of  eleven  to  the  church  in  the  course  of 
the  year.  Several  others  gave  evidence  of 
conversion,  and  there  were  some  hopeful  in- 
quirers. 

It  was  early  in  the  year  1866  that  Mr.  Clough 
made   his   first   visit   to   Ongole.      Before   his 


THE  MISSIONARY  AT  ONGOLE.  203 

tongue  was  wholly  loosed,  he  wrote  and  put  in 
circulation  a  tract  entitled,  "Where  are  you 
going?"  showing  the  folly  of  heathenism,  and 
how  to  worship  God  acceptably. 

A  mission-house  was  made  ready,  bought 
with  funds  provided  for  the  purpose  by  a  former 
schoolmate  of  Mr.  Jewett,  living  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  who  has  made  many  generous  offer- 
ings to  the  mission.  On  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1867,  the  church  of  Ongole  was  formed 
with  eight  members.  In  seven  years  the  eight 
had  become  thirty-three  hundred  —  perhaps  the 
largest  Baptist  church  in  the  world.  The  work 
now  strode  forward  with  marvellous  vigor.  The 
whole  region  seemed  moved  by  the  mighty 
power  of  God.  A  Divine  influence  overshad- 
owed the  towns  and  villages  and  deserts.  At 
the  close  of  the  week  of  prayer  in  1867,  the 
missionaries  pitched  their  tents  three  days* 
journey  west  of  Ongole,  in  a  tamarind-grove, 
in  the  vicinity  of  villages  where  the  native 
helpers  had  reported  that  the  blessing  of  God 
was  descending  in  a  remarkable  manner  on  the 
people.  The  next  day  the  natives  began  to 
appear  in  considerable  numbers  before  the  tent, 
both  men  and  women,  having  with  them  pro- 
visions for  four  or  five  days,  and  change  of 
apparel  to  put  on  when  they  were  baptized. 
For,  they  said,  they  had  come  to  learn  more 
about  Jesus ;  but  they  believed  already,  and 
wanted  to  be  baptized.  Those  five  days  spent 
in  preaching,  prayer,  reading  the  Scriptures, 
and  inquiry,  the  missionaries  will  never  forget. 
At  the  close  of  the  fifth  day,  twenty-eight  were 


204  MISSION  TO   THE    TELOOGOOS, 

baptized  by  Mr.  Clough.  It  was  like  a  new 
Pentecost.  ''Their  faith  is  simple,"  said  a 
missionary,  "but  O,  how  strong!"  The  bap- 
tized lived  in  villages  from  twenty-five  to  fifty- 
five  miles  distant  from  Ongole.  Their  ages 
were  from  fifteen  to  seventy,  but  the  larger 
part  were  young  men  and  women  from  twenty 
to  thirty.  The  missionaries  began  to  cry  for 
help  for  this  new,  this  wide-spread  field,  for 
Ramapatam,  for  AUoor,  for  all  the  stations. 
Mr.  Jewett  wrote,  "  If  we  move  forward,  and 
you  send  us  the  men,  earnest  men,  the  time  is 
near  when  thousands  of  the  Teloogoos  will  be 
given  to  Christ." 

The  next  year  Rev.  A.  V.  Timpany  and  wife 
left  this  country  to  join  the  mission,  and  aid  in 
gathering  these  bountiful  harvests.  It  was  felt, 
that,  notwithstanding  early  discouragements, 
this  region  was  fast  becoming  one  of  the  most 
inviting  and  important  fields  cultivated  by  the 
Union.  Ten  native  preachers  and  colporters 
were  among  the  laborers  ;  and  four  out-stations 
were  the  centres  of  a  wide  space  of  country  on 
which  God  had  poured  out  his  Spirit.  As  in 
revivals  at  home,  feeble  means  were  the  source 
of  wonderful  effects.  The  tent  of  a  colporter, 
seen  at  a  distance  of  three  miles,  became  a  sign 
which  led  a  heathen  man  to  Christ.  In  March, 
1868,  ten  more  were  baptized  in  Nellore,  —  this 
tent-disciple  being  one  of  the  number ;  in 
November,  ten  more ;  in  December,  eight 
more.  Every  department  of  missionary  labor 
was  carried  forward  with  vigor,  and  the  seed 
yielded    affluent    harvests.      New    out-stations 


NEW  CHURCHES  AND  HELPERS.         205 

were  opened,  and  the  people  from  villages  near 
and  remote  came,  and  begged  for  teachers. 
This  year  twenty-three  were  baptized  in  con- 
nection with  Nellore,  and  sixty-eight  in  con- 
nection with  Ongole.  A  chapel  was  erected  at 
the  latter  station,  built  of  stone  laid  in  lime, 
at  a  cost  of  eleven  hundred  and  seventy  dollars, 
the  whole  except  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
dollars  being  collected  in  the  country.  Mr. 
Clough  wrote  that  within  a  year  the  people 
in  more  than  eight  hundred  villages,  within  a 
circuit  of  forty  miles  around  Ongole,  had  heard 
the  gospel,  had  had  the  Scriptures  offered  them, 
and  been  entreated  to  repent,  believe,  and  be 
saved. 

The  following  years  were  years  of  similar 
encouragement.  The  word  of  God  had  free 
course.  The  converts  were  multiplied.  Knowl- 
edge ran  to  and  fro,  from  village  to  village.  In 
a  thousand  villages  Christ  was  preached,  and 
converts,  more  and  more,  were  added  to  the 
Lord. 

At  the  beginning  of  1870  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McLaurin  were  added  to  the  staff  of  laborers. 
Land  and  buildings  had  been  bought  at  Rama- 
patam,  and  Mr.  Timpany  was  designated  to 
occupy  them  in  the  work  of  the  mission.  A 
new  out-station,  Alloor,  was  added,  and  a  native 
preacher  stationed  there.  The  baptized  con- 
verts in  Alloor  numbered  thirty-eight,  twenty- 
five  of  whom  had  put  on  Christ  within  the 
year.  In  the  monthly  covenant-meetings  of 
the  church  at  Nellore,  each  member,  instead 
of  relating  the  exercises  of  his  own  mind,  was 


2o6  MISSION  TO   THE   TELOOGOOS, 

expected  to  tell  what  he  had  attempted  to  do 
for  the  conversion  of  souls.  In  connection  with 
Ongole,  the  report  of  1870  states  that  in  one 
month  324  were  baptized,  and  hundreds  more 
asked  for  the  ordinance.  The  whole  number 
of  members  baptized  this  year  at  all  the  stations 
was  628.     Whole  number  of  members,  835. 

In  November,  1870,  Rev.  Edwin  Bullard,  son 
of  a  former  missionary  in  Burmah,  joined  the 
mission.  One  of  the  most  pressing  wants  was 
more  native  preachers ;  and  yet  Mr.  Jewett  had 
under  his  charge  fifteen,  Mr.  Clough  seventeen, 
and  Mr.  Timpany  seven  or  eight.  In  March, 
1870,  a  church  was  organized  at  Ramapatam, 
composed  of  thirty-five  members  ;  and  seventy 
were  added  to  it  by  baptism  during  the  year. 
In  1872  Mr.  Clough  was  compelled  by  the  fail- 
ure of  his  health  to  make  a  journey  home.  But 
before  coming  he  sent  an  interesting  account 
jof  a  priest,  who  had  heard  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus  in  his  distant  mountain  home,  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-five  miles  west  of  Ongole, 
nearly  half  way  across  the  peninsula  of  Hin- 
dostan,  and,  believing,  came  across  the  moun- 
tains and  deserts  full  of  tigers  to  learn  more 
of  Christ,  and  to  be  baptized.  Mr.  Clough 
said,  "I  see  that  God  intends  our  mission  to 
jump  over  the  Eastern  Ghauts." 

About  the  same  time  the  first  Association  of 
churches  was  formed,  seven  native  preachers 
ordained,  and  a  building  for  a  theological  sem- 
inary was  completed.  Total  number  of  bap- 
tisms in  the  year,  915. 

When  Mr.  Clough   left    India,  the  brethren 


ON  A  NEW  KEY.  207 

charged  him  to  bring  back  on  his  return,  if 
possible,  four  additional  laborers  to  reap  the 
whitening  harvests,  and  also  to  secure  the  dona- 
tion of  fifty  thousand  dollars  as  an  endowment 
for  the  theological  seminary.  Both  these  ob- 
jects he  attained.  The  first  six  years  of  his 
mission  life  had  been  one  protracted  Pentecost. 
During  his  absence,  in  a  single  year  Mr.  McLau- 
rin  baptized  over  seven  hundred  converts. 

In  1873  the  annual  meeting  was  again  held  in 
Albany ;  but,  instead  of  debating  the  question 
whether  the  light  of  the  "  Lone  Star  "  should 
be  extinguished,  the  brethren  held  this  lan- 
guage :  "  Over  the  whole  field  covered  by  our 
work  among  the  Teloogoos,  the  smile  of  Divine 
approbation  is  resting.  The  spirit  of  inquiry 
is  on  the  increase ;  and  a  hungering  for  the 
Word  of  God  brings  together  large  companies  of 
listeners  wherever  the  missionary  makes  his 
appearance,  who  linger  often  for  hours,  eager- 
ly receiving  the  message,  and  beseeching  the 
preacher  to  return.  In  many  instances  the 
seed  is  scarcely  sown  till  the  reaper  is  needed 
to  gather  in  the  harvest ;  and  in  several  cases 
the  news  comes  of  hundreds  who  have  believed, 
and  are  anxious  to  confess  Christ  by  baptism  ; 
but  the  brethren  are  so  pressed  with  equally 
important  labors  in  other  directions,  that  they 
cannot  respond  to  their  call.  Obstacles  in  the 
way  of  the  proclamation  of  the  truth  have 
nearly  disappeared.  All  the  gateways  seem 
to  be  thrown  open  ;  and  the' Spirit  of  the  Lord 
seems  to  have  gone  before,  and  cast  up  a  high- 
way for  a   triumphant   advance.  .  .  .  There  is 


2o8  MISSION   TO    THE    TELOOGOOS. 

enough  work  to  occupy  several  new  missionaries 
for  months,  simply  in  going  to  the  towns  and 
villages,  and  examining  and  baptizing  the  hun- 
dreds of  candidates  who  are  now  waiting,  and 
have  been  for  months,  standing  firm  in  their 
adherence  to  Christ,  without  ordinances,  or 
churches,  or  pastors. 

The  theological  seminary  for  training  native 
pastors  was  opened  under  Mr.  Timpany,  in 
April,  1872,  in  Ramapatam,  with  eighteen  stu- 
dents. Buildings  were  afterwards  erected  to 
accommodate  a  hundred.  Oct.  24  a  church 
was  organized  at  Alloor,  numbering  forty-four 
members.  In  two  months  it  had  grown  to  fifty- 
four,  with  a  native  pastor,  a  native  evangelist, 
two  schools,  and  three  students  for  the  ministry. 
Three  head  men  from  one  village  and  four  from 
another  were  baptized,  and  it  seemed  as  if  their 
villages  would  soon  follow.  The  happy  death 
of  a  Christian  boy  became  precious  seed,  and 
sprung  into  a  bountiful  harvest. 

Rev.  David  Downie  and  wife  joined  the  mis- 
sion in  December,  1873.  The  same  year  Mr. 
McLaurin  founded  a  new  station  at  Coconada, 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Canadian  Baptists, 
to  which  he  was  transferred  from  the  Union. 
Mr.  Clough  returned  to  Ongole,  January,  1874, 
accompanied  by  a  new  missionary  family.  Rev. 
W.  W.  Campbell  and  wife.  Miss  Peabody  had 
previously  joined  Mr.  Timpany's  station  at 
Ramapatam. 

The  year  opened,  to  use  the  language  of  one 
of  the  missionaries,  "with  a  burst  of  blessing 
in  the  north  which  nearly  surprised  us,  used  as 


DAYS  OF  DARKNESS.  209 

we  are  to  great  things  from  the  Lord."  During 
a  tour  of  less  than  a  month,  two  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  were  baptized.  Thousands  of 
people  in  India  expect  some  mighty  moral  revo- 
lution. Brahmins,  Mohammedans,  and  people 
of  all  castes,  frequently  tell  the  preachers, 
"  Your  religion  is  the  only  true  religion.  We 
know  it  must  prevail.  We  all  must  come,  too, 
some  day."  High  native  officials  urge  the  vil- 
lage officials  not  to  molest  the  Christians,  be- 
cause they  say,  "  We,  too,  must  become  Chris- 
tians soon." 

Similar  accounts  came  from  every  part  of  the 
field.  The  King  in  Zion  had  girded  his  sword 
upon  his  thigh,  and  rode  forth  in  regal  pomp, 
conquering  and  to  conquer.  The  members  re- 
ported at  the  several  stations  were,  Nellore,  336; 
Ongole,  2,761  ;  Ramapatam,  675  ;  Alloor,  60: 
total,  3,832. 

Rev.  R.  R.  Williams  took  charge  of  the  theo- 
logical seminary  in  1873.  The  seminary  grounds 
comprise  about  fifty  acres,  nearly  in  a  square, 
with  the  Bay  of  Bengal  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
to  the  east,  a  large  tank  in  the  centre,  and  the 
mission-compound,  the  school-building,  and  the 
students*  houses  in  various  parts  of  the  enclos- 
ure. 

But,  while  so  great  a  spiritual  blessing  came 
upon  the  people,  the  day  of  trial  was  near. 
The  harvest  completely  failed ;  and  a  terrible 
famme  followed,  some  eating  only  once  in  three 
days  for  months  at  a  time.  The  enemies  of 
religion  embraced  the  opportunity  to  taunt  the 
Christians.     They  refused  to  sell  them  food  on 


2IO  MISSION  TO   THE   TELOOGOOS. 

trust,  though  they  sold  it  to  others.  They  said, 
"Go  to  your  God:  he  will  feed  you."  But  al- 
most without  an  exception  the  Christians  stood 
firmly.  They  could  bear  the  pangs  of  hunger, 
and  die  if  need  be ;  but  they  could  not  deny 
Christ.  And  they  went  to  God  in  their  trouble  ; 
and  he  did  feed  them,  and,  in  answer  to  prayer, 
removed  the  famine.  After  the  famine  came  a 
flood  upon  Nellore,  desolating  many  of  the  vil- 
lages ;  and  after  the  flood,  cholera ;  and  after  the 
cholera,  famine  again,  of  greater  severity  and 
far  wider  extent  and  longer  duration  than  be- 
fore. Meanwhile  the  work  of  the  mission  went 
on.  In  1874  a  small  printing-press  was  set  up, 
to  print  for  the  mission. 

In  1875  Miss  M.  A.  Wood,  and  Rev.  D.  H. 
Drake  and  wife,  were  added  to  the  working 
force  of  the  mission.  The  seminary  had  forty- 
six  students,  of  whom  seventeen  were  married, 
their  wives  as  far  as  possible  taking  part  in  the 
studies  of  the  Institution. 

The  report  of  1876  records  the  addition  of 
Rev.  A.  Loughridge  and  wife  to  the  Ongole 
station,  and  Rev.  A.  A.  Newhall  to  Ramapatam, 
and  two  new  stations  opened,  Secunderabad  and 
Kurnool.  The  church  in  the  former  was  organ- 
ized Nov.  14,  1875,  with  fourteen  members. 
The  whole  number  baptized  in  the  Teloogoo 
mission  up  to  Dec.  31,  1876,  was  4,394. 

In  1876  Mr.  Timpany  returned  to  America 
for  a  season,  and  in  October  severed  his  con- 
nection with  the  Union  with  a  view  to  joining 
the  Canadian  mission  in  Coconada.  Miss  Mary 
M.  Day,  the  daughter  of  Rev.  Samuel  S.  Day, 


FAITH'S  PREDICTIONS.  2H 

the  founder  of  the  mission  to  the  Teloogoos, 
was  appointed  to  join  the  mission,  and  help  to 
reap  the  harvests  from  the  seed  which  her  par- 
ents had  sown.  Nellore  and  Alloor,  being  only 
eighteen  miles  apart,  were  re-united  as  one  sta- 
tion. The  missionaries  cherished  a  remarkable 
spirit  of  expectation.  As  if  coming  events  cast 
their  shadow  before,  they  looked  through  the 
gloom  to  the  coming  brightness.  One  said, 
as  tiie  famine  grew  more  severe :  "  God  only  can 
see  the  end  ;  but  we  intend  to  fight  on  and  pray 
on  as  long  as  there  is  any  thing  left  of  us ;  and 
the  result  will  honor  Christ.  I  fully  believe  that 
when  the  famine  is  over,  if  not  before,  there  will 
be  such  a  turning  to  him,  such  a  casting-away  of 
idols  and  Brahminism,  as  India  has  never  before 
seen."  Another  wrote  :  **We  look  for  great  in- 
gatherings into  our  churches  soon,  such  as  have 
not  been  known  in  the  history  of  modern  mis- 
sions. If  I  am  not  utterly  mistaken,  God  by 
his  Spirit  is  moving  on  the  hearts  of  thousands 
and  thousands  of  these  Teloogoo  people.  The 
students,  who  are  out  from  Saturday  morning 
till  Sunday  evening  every  week,  tell  me  that 
whole  villages  are  ready  to  become  Christian. 
I  believe  that  God  is.  about  to  fulfil  his  promise 
to  his  Son  regarding  these  people.  It  looks  as 
though  a  nation  is  to  be  born  in  a  day." 

But  how  often  is  the  pathway  "  through  night 
to  light!" — first  the  evening,  then  the  morn- 
ing, as  on  the  days  of  creation. 

Mrs.  Williams  at  Ramapatam  died  June  3, 
1876,  in  the  full  flush  of  life  and  hope,  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty-one,  and  after  a  residence  in 


2T2  MISSION   TO    THE    TELOOGOOS. 

India  of  only  two  and  a  half  years,  —  another 
precious  offering  on  the  altar  of-  missions,  con- 
sumed, as  to  us,  like  the  Jewish  burnt  sacrifices, 
but  a  sweet  savor,  accepted  before  God.  She 
had  been  a  happy  worker  and  an  efficient  help- 
er in  the  seminary. 

Mr.  Clough  had  baptized  in  1876,  656  con- 
verts ;  and  the  whole  number  baptized  during 
the  year  in  connection  with  all  the  stations  was 
724. 

Then  came  the  dark  days  of  the  famine,  in 
the  course  of  which  nearly  four  hundred  Teloo- 
goo  Christians  died.  The  missionary  work,  in 
some  of  its  departments,  was  suspended ;  and 
the  efforts  of  the  brethren  were  turned  as  far  as 
possible  to  the  saving  of  life.  They  were  made 
the  almoners  of  the  government ;  and  in  super- 
intending public  works,  undertaken  to  give  em- 
ployment to  the  starving  people,  they  gained 
new  access  to  many  hundreds  of  minds,  and  in- 
fluence over  them.  It  was  thought  best  for  a 
time  to  use  the  greatest  caution  in  giving  en- 
couragement, under  such  circumstances,  to  those 
who  professed  conversion  and  requested  bap- 
tism, lest  they  should  seek  to  be  recognized 
among  the  disciples  for  mercenary  motives. 
Hence  for  a  number  of  months  none  were  re- 
ceived to  the  church. 

But  in  June,  1878,  the  doors  for  admission 
to  the  church  were  again  opened,  and  the  new 
Pentecost  began  to  be  developed  with  wonder- 
ful power.  Under  date  of  Sept.  17,  1878,  Mr. 
Clough  wrote  as  follows  :  — 


THE  NEW  PENTECOST.  213 

"  Twelve  years  ago  this  morning  we  arrived  in  Ongole. 
The  outlook  was  then  dreary  enough.  Twelve  years  oi 
hard  work,  of  joys  and  sorrows,  have  passed.  We  look 
around  us,  we  think  of  the  past,  and  can  but  exclaim, 
*  What  hath  God  v/rought ! '  We  can  now  see  that  God 
intends  to  do  great  things  for  the  Teloogoos.  Past  bless- 
ings are  but  an  earnest  of  greater  ones  just  before  us,  if 
we  are  faithful  over  the  few  things  already  given. 

"The  total  number  baptized  up  to  date,  since  June  15, 
is  9,147.  Is  this  too  large  a  blessing.?  Is  it  not  what 
you  have  been  praying  for.?  Are  the  converts  unaccepta- 
ble, because  so  many .?  Are  we  not  after  all  the  Teloo- 
goos.? We  —  my  native  preachers  and  myself  —  beheve 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  preaching  the  gospel. 
We  baptize  those  only  whom  we  have  reason  to  believe 
he  has  regenerated.  How  can  we  do  otherwise?  The 
converts  are  not  the  rich,  high-caste  Hindoos,  but  are 
weavers,  cobblers,  tanners,  farm-laborers,  &c. :  and  are 
mostly  of  the  Madaga  and  Mala  castes.  Only  a  few  can 
read.  About  two  thousand  are  small  farmers,  and  own 
about  six  acres  of  land  each,  on  an  average.  With  com- 
mon elementary  education  for  the  mass  of  converts,  added 
to  their  Christianity,  they  will  be,  in  a  few  years,  largel) 
the  bone  anrl  sinew  of  this  part  of  the  Teloogoo  country 
They  cannot  help  us  much  now,  but  will  generally  do  ah 
they  can.  The  clamor  for  teachers  and  preachers  for 
the  four  hundred  villages  is  excruciating.  The  twenty- 
two  preachers  of  last  year  are  at  work.  The  graduates 
from  the  seminary  are  at  work.  The  old  village  schools 
are  all  revived,  and  are  flourishing.  Several  lay  preach- 
ers, or  'lights  of  the  jungle'  as  I  call  them,  have  been 
set  to  work  to  help  us  hold  the  position,  and  press  out 
our  pickets.  These  are  now  out  one  hundred  miles  to 
the  west,  and  seventy  miles  north. 

"  Our  old  normal  school  is  again  in  full  operation,  with 
forty-seven  men  and  large  youth,  fifty  women  and  girls. 
Four  competent  teachers  are  pushing  them  as  fast  as 
possible.  Besides  these  we  have  a  few  boys  and  girls 
in  Mr.  Loughridge's  school ;  and  seventy-three  men  and 
fifty-four  women  (under  God  our  hope)  in  the  theological 
seminary  at  Ramapatam."  .  .  . 


214  MISSION  TO    THE   TELOOGOOS, 

Mr.  Williams  went  to  Ongole  on  the  I2th  of 
that  month  to  aid  Mr.  Clough.  On  the  31st  of 
July  he  wrote  as  follows  :  — 

"  Brother  Clough  and  his  helpers  were  literally  crowd- 
ed upon  by  the  people  who  were  pressing  into  the  king- 
dom of  God.  I  saw  what  few  missionaries  have  seen. 
More  than  a  thousand  people  from  one  of  the  Ongole 
Pallems  came  into  the  compound,  and  gave  up  their 
idols.  Great  as  this  ingathering  is,  it  is  not  beyond 
my  anticipations.  When  we  think  how  many  earnest 
men  are  at  work  on  the  field,  who  go  day  after  day  tell- 
ing the  simple  story  of  the  cross,  and  pleading  with  their 
fellow-men  to  turn  unto  God,  and  remember  what  God 
has  promised,  who  could  look  for  less  t " 

On  the  5th  of  August  Mr.  Clough,  after  re- 
ferring to  the  help  he  had  received  from  Mr. 
Williams,  says  :  — 

"  I  cannot  write  in  detail.  God  was  with  us,  and  glori- 
fied himself.  A  multitude  were  baptized,  —  3,262  in  all. 
These  make,  with  those  already  reported,  8,691  baptized 
from  June  16  to  July  31,  inclusive.  To  God  be  all  the 
praise  now  and  tJu'otigh  all  eternity  /  Unless  I  err  great- 
ly, if  my  life  and  health  and  my  native  preachers  are 
spared,  before  Jan.  i,  1879,  five  thousand  more  will  be 
baptized  by  us ;  and  then,  D.V.,.  the  work  will  go  on  and 
on,  until  the  little  flame  kindled  here  becomes  a  mighty 
fire,  sweeping  every  thing  before  it." 

Mr.  McLaurin  writes  in  respect  to  this  great 
work :  — 

"Do  I  believe  in  the  genuineness  of  this  revival?  I 
do  believe  in  it  heartily,  joyously,  and  hopefully,  for  these 
reasons:  i.  I  believe  in  the  power  of  th^ gospel  to  effect 
such  a  work  as  this.  2.  I  believe  the  Teloogoos  are  a 
prepared  people,  made  ready  by  the  Spirit  for  such  a 
movement.  3.  I  know  each  square  mile  of  the  field  em- 
braced, thoroughly,  by  personal  contact.     4.  I  know  each 


PRESENT  STATE   OF  THE  MISSION.      215 

preacher,  teacher,  and  colporter  intimately;  I  know  his 
spirit,  motives,  and  modes  of  work.  5.  There  is  not  a 
village  on  the  whole  field  in  which  the  gospel  has  not 
been  faithfully  preached  many  times  a  year,  for  the  last 
half-dozen  years  or  more.  6.  In  this  way  the  whole  field 
has  been  saturated  with  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  way  of  salvation.  The  people  have  heard  all  this 
for  years  with  indifference,  though  in  one  sense  believing 
it  all  the  while.  The  famine  came,  and  death  stared 
them  in  the  face.  They  were  stirred  out  of  their  indiffer- 
ence, were  made  to  think,  and  had  Christianity  presented 
to  them  in  one  of  its  most  blessed  aspects.  The  Holy 
Spirit  worked  by  these  means  on  the  people,  and  we  have 
the  result  before  us." 

There  are  how  six  principal  mission-stations 
of  the  Missionary  Union  among  the  Teloogoos  ; 
—  namely,  Nellore,  Ongole,  Ramapatam,  Kur- 
nool,  Secunderabad,  and  Madras,  —  with  eleven 
missionaries,  including  their  wives  and  one 
single  lady,  nineteen  in  all.  One  of  the  num- 
ber, Rev.  E.  Bullard,  is  at  present  in  this  coun- 
try ;  and  four.  Rev.  S.  W.  Nichols  and  wife, 
Rev;  W.  B.  Boggs  and  wife,  are  on  the  way  out 
to  join  the  mission.  The  force  at  work  on  the 
field  to-day  numbers  eight ;  with  the  females, 
fourteen. 

A  review  of  the  history  of  the  Teloogoo  Mis- 
sion is  full  of  interest  and  instruction.  "  God 
moves  in  a  mysterious  way  ; "  but  he  is  a  God 
who  fulfils  his  promises,  and  whose  purposes 
are  hastened  in  their  time.  And  God's  time  is 
the  best  time,  —  best  for  his  own  glory,  best  for 
the  faith  of  his  people,  best  for  the  building-up 
of  his  Church  on  earth,  best  for  the  salvation 
of  souls,  best  for  the  immortal  joy  of  the  re- 
deemed. 


2i6  MISSION  TO   THE   TELOOGOOS. 


FAITH'S   VICTORY. 

Weary  and  wan,  his  furrows  long 

The  patient  ploughman  trod, 
Turning  with  endless  care  and  pains 

The  sluggish,  barren  sod ; 
And  morning  came,  and  daylight  went, 

And  strength  and  hope  were  gone, 
And  tearful  eyes  grew  dim,  —  and  still 

The  wearying  toil  went  on. 

Smitten  beneath  the  burning  sun, 

The  fainting  workman  cries, 
"Master,  how  long  this  iron  earth? 

How  long  these  brazen  skies  ?  " 
"  Ploughman,  toil  on  in  loving  trust; 

Yield  thee  to  my  sweet  will. 
Faith  wins  its  victories,  weary  soul: 

Believe,  and  labor  still." 

And  tears  and  love  and  faith  prepared 

The  deeply  furrowed  field 
To  hide  and  keep  the  precious  grain,  ^ 

Seed  of  a  bounteous  yield  ; 
And  dew  and  rain  and  sunny  skies 

Enriched  each  seed  that  fell. 
Lost  to  the  eye  of  man,  but  God 

Knew  how  to  guard  it  well. 

Oh,  long  and  sad  the  sower's  care. 

As  seasons  went  and  came ! 
And  God  forgot  the  toiler's  lot, 

And  put  his  hope  to  shame. 
"Vain  work,"  a  timid  faith  proclaimed; 

"Poor  toilers,  faint  and  few! 
Bury  and  hide  your  useless  seed  ; 

Bury  the  sowers  too." 

But  God's  great  mystery  of  grace 

Its  mighty  pathway  holds. 
And,  like  the  budding  rose  of  June, 

In  beauteous  life  unfolds. 


FAITH'S   VICTORY.  21 7 

The  bursting  germ,  the  verdant  leaf, 

Break  forth  from  hidden  graves  ; 
And  far  o'er  all  the  swelling  hills 

The  joyful  harvest  waves. 

Whence  are  these  myriad  forms  that  bow 

Before  Messiah's  throne  ? 
Whence  the  grand  chorus  that  uplifts 

Thy  name,  O  Christ !  alone  ? 
Whence  are  the  clustering  crowds  that  seek 

The  same  celestial  goal  ? 
And  one  new  song  holds  every  lip, 

One  pulse-beat  every  soul. 

These  are  the  ploughman's  garnered  wealth, 

Born  of  his  toil  and  pain ; 
These  are  the  sower's  faith  and  tears, 

Transformed  to  golden  grain. 
God  watched  the  toilers  at  their  work ; 

And,  when  his  wisdom  willed, 
The  pledge  his  loving  heart  had  made 

His  loving  hand  fulfilled. 

Then  hail,  Lone  Star !  of  all  the  wreath 

Thou  art  the  brightest  gem, 
As  once,  o'er  fair  Judea's  plains, 

The  star  of  Bethlehem. 
Shine  on  !     We  learn  to  pray  and  wait. 

To  toil  and  trust,  through  thee, 
A  star  of  triumph  on  Christ's  brow, 

And  Faith's  high  victory. 


No.  XIV. 

SOUTHERN    CHINA   MISSION. 

Its  Various  Names.  —  The  Earliest  Missionaries.  —  Dr.  Dean's  Field 
of  Labor. —  Preliminary  Efforts.  —  Geographical  and  Political. — 
The  First  Baptism.  —  Early  History.  —  Revival  of  Religion. — 
The  Work  Prospering.  —  Visit  to  Cochin  China.  —  School  for 
Girls.  —  China  and  California.  —  "  Went  everywhere  preaching 
the  Word."  —  Persecution.  —  Removal  to  Swatow.  —  The  Station 
at  Swatow.  —  Inquirers  and  Converts.  —  Progress  and  Opposition. 
—  Steadfastness  under  Persecution.  —  Ordination  of  Chinese 
Preachers.  —  The  Theological  Class.  —  The  Chinese  and  their 
Home  Missions.  —  Death  of  the  First  Ordained  Chinese.  —  Death 
of  Mr.  Johnson.  —  Work  of  Female  Missionaries.  —  Teaching.  — 
Summing  up.  —  Present  State. 

THE  mission  of  the  American  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Union  to  the  Chinese  was  pro- 
jected at  an  early  day ;  and  considerable  time 
elapsed  between  the  planning  of  the  enterprise 
and  its  actual  realization  in  the  planting  of 
a  mission  in  that  great  empire.  The  mission  has 
been  named,  at  different  periods,  the  Hongkong, 
the  Tie  Chiu,  the  Swatow,  and  the  Southern 
China  Mission  ;  the  first  and  third  in  reference 
to  its  principal  stations,  the  second  in  reference 
to  the  dialect  used  by  the  missionaries,  and  the 
last  in  reference  to  the  geographical  location  of 
the  mission  in  the  empire. 

Rev.  William  Dean  was  appointed  the  first 
218 


DR.   DEAN'S  FIELD   OF  LABOR.  219 

missionary  Sept.  17,  1832,  and  arrived  in  Bang- 
kok July  18,  1835,  expecting  to  labor  for  the 
Chinese  residing  in  Siam.  On  account  of  ill 
health,  he  went  to  China  in  February,  1842,  and 
was  in  Macao  in  1846.  Rev.  J.  L.  Shuck  of 
Alexandria,  D.C.,  sailed  from  this  country  Sept. 
20,  1835,  and  arrived  in  Macao  Sept.  17,  1836; 
removed  to  Hongkong  in  March,  1842,  and  Can- 
ton April  3,  1844.  Dr.  T.  T.  Devan  sailed 
from  this  country  June  11,  1844;  arrived  at 
Victoria,  on  Hongkong  Island,  Oct.  22,  1844; 
and  left  the  mission  in  September,  1847.  -^^ 
these  were  identified  with  the  Hongkong  mis- 
sion. Mr.  Goddard,  who  sailed  in  1838,  and  re- 
mained for  a  season  in  Bangkok ;  Mr.  Lord,  who 
sailed  in  1847;  and  Dr.  Macgowan,  in  1842, — 
were  all  connected  ultimately  with  the  Ningpo 
mission.  These  were  the  earliest  missionaries 
of  the  Union  to  the  Chinese  people. 

Many  of  the  Chinese  flock  together  in  Bang- 
kok, Siam,  for  purposes  of  trade,  designing  to 
return  ultimately  to  their  own  country.  Among 
these  people  Dr.  Dean  has  labored  judiciously 
and  successfully  till  the  present  time.  The 
account  of  his  labors  is  found  in  the  sketch  of 
the  mission  in  Siam.  Other  missionaries  have 
been  joined  with  Dr.  Dean  from  time  to  time, 
and  Dr.  Dean  has  also  labored  some  years 
among  the  population  speaking  the  same  dialect 
in  Hongkong  and  vicinity.  But  the  principal 
labors  of  his  long  and  useful  life  have  been 
devoted  to  the  Chinese  of  Bangkok  and  vicinity 
in  Siam. 

The  missions  in  the  empire  of  China  are  the 


220  SOUTHERN  CHINA   MISSION 

Southern  China  or  Hongkong  Mission,  and  the 
Eastern  China  or  Ningpo  Mission.  The  present 
sketch  is  devoted  to  the  former. 

Bangkok,  in  Siam,  and  Macao,  the  stations 
where  labor  for  the  religious  welfare  of  the 
Chinese  was  first  undertaken,  were  designed  to 
be  points  of  approach  to  the  empire  of  China. 
Here  were  large  bodies  of  Chinese  gathered 
together.  Here  agents  of  commerce  and  teach- 
ers of  religion,  who  were  alike  studiously  ex- 
cluded from  the  empire,  it  was  thought  might 
find  fewer  prejudices  to  be  overcome,  and  at  the 
same  time  facilities  for  labor  whose  results 
might  in  due  time  be  extended  to  the  countless 
multitudes  whom  they  were  forbidden  directly 
to  approach.  Some  seeds,  thus  deposited  out- 
side of  the  great  field,  might  perhaps  be  wafted 
to  the  shores  and  into  the  interior  of  China,  and 
the  fruit  wave  on  the  hills  of  that  dark  land  of 
heathenism. 

Hongkong  is  a  hilly  island  at  the  mouth  of 
Canton  River,  twelve  hours'  sail  from  Macao, 
twenty-four  from  Canton,  and  three  or  four  days 
from  Amoy.  It  was  occupied  by  the  English 
in  1 84 1,  after  the  opium  war.  By  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  signed  August,  1842,  Hongkong  was 
ceded  to  the  Queen  of  England  and  her  succes- 
sors forever,  and  the  five  ports.  Canton,  Amoy, 
Fuchau,  Ningpo,  and  Shanghai,  were  opened  to 
British  commerce,  and  the  residence  of  British 
officers  and  merchants.  The  English  people 
began  at  once  to  occupy  the  ports  which  were 
opened  for  their  residence.  The  American  mis- 
sionaries to  the  Chinese,  who  had  been  stationed 


PRELIMINARY  EFFORTS.  221 

at  Bangkok  and  Macao,  determined  to  remove 
to  China,  and  establish  their  missions  at  such  of 
the  free  ports  as  seemed  the  most  advantageous 
and  inviting  as  fields  of  labor. 

While  the  m.ission  was  in  Macao,  a  place 
under  Portuguese  jurisdiction,  Mr.  Shuck  had 
baptized,  Jan.  31,  1837,  the  first  Chinese  con- 
vert, his  teacher,  who  accompanied  him  from 
Singapore ;  and  a  school  for  children  had  been 
commenced  by  Mrs.  Shuck.  Mr.  Shuck  began 
to  preach  in  Macao  near  the  close  of  February, 
1839;  in  January,  1840,  he  preached  in  several 
houses,  in  the  streets,  and  in  an  idol-temple, 
and  many  received  tracts. 

In  the  year  1841,  Rev.  I.  J.  Roberts  joined 
the  station  at  Macao.  This  year  one  Chinese 
gave  evidence  of  faith,  and  an  American  sea- 
captain  was  baptized  Jan.  5,  1842.  Immediately 
afterwards  the  mission  was  transferred  to  Hong- 
kong island.  Mr.  Shuck  commenced  his  resi- 
dence at  the  city  of  Hongkong,  afterwards 
known  as  Victoria,  in  March,  1842,  and  Mr. 
Roberts  at  Chekchu,  on  the  southern  side  of 
the  island.  The  island  settlements  grew  rapidly 
under  the  auspices  of  the  British  government. 
When  it  was  occupied  by  the  English  in  1841, 
the  population  was  .seven  thousand  ;  and  in  two 
years  it  quadrupled.  A  lot  of  land  was  granted 
to  the  mission  by  the  government  at  Victoria,  on 
which  a  mission-house  was  erected,  and  two  com- 
modious chapels  were  built,  to  be  used  alike  for 
public  worship  and  for  schools,  —  the  expense 
being  principally  defrayed  by  English  gentlemen 
residing  at  Hongkong  and  Macao. 


222  SOUTHERN  CHINA   MISSION. 

A  church  was  organized  in  May,  1842,  em- 
bracing five  names  besides  those  of  the  mission- 
aries. A  chapel  was  also  erected  at  Chekchu, 
where  Mr.  Roberts  preached  in  English  and 
Chinese,  and  superintended  a  school  taught  by 
a  Chinese  convert  who  had  come  from  Bangkok. 
In  the  beginning  of  1843,  Mr.  Roberts  removed 
from  Chekchu  to  Victoria;  and  in  January,  1846, 
his  connection  with  the  mission  was  closed. 
Very  interesting  is  the  narrative  of  the  first 
Chinese  convert  baptized  at  Hongkong,  May  28, 
1843.  He  was  first  met  with  a  hundred  coolies 
under  him,  employed  on  a  government  contract, 
making  roads  in  Hongkong,  and  soon  marched 
his  troop  of  men  on  the  Sabbath  to  the  chapel 
to  hear  the  gospel,  though  this  cost  him  the 
food  and  time  of  a  hundred  men  for  the  day. 
He  has  since  been  employed  in  leading  his 
countrymen  to  Christ,  sometimes  in  pay  of  the 
mission,  but  for  several  years  at  his  own  expense. 
This  church,  when  left  without  the  watch-care 
and  support  of  the  Union,  maintained  its  onward 
way,  and  from  year  to  year  received  members 
into  its  communion.  He  was  ordained  pastor 
of  the  church  ;  and  he  and  his  wife,  his  son  and 
his  son's  wife,  and  his  daughter  are  all  members. 

Dr.  Dean  settled  with  his  family  at  Hongkong 
Oct.  24,  1842  ;  and  the  following  year  a  second 
church  was  organized,  called  the  Tie  Chiu  church 
of  Hongkong.  Thirty-three  services  in  Chinese 
were  held  every  week ;  two  native  converts 
were  baptized,  besides  six  foreigners,  and  thou- 
sands of  tracts  were  distributed.  But  the  mis- 
sion began  with  trial.    The  gold  must  be  refined 


THE    WORK  PROSPERING.  223 

by  fire.  In  March,  1843,  Mrs.  Dean  was  called 
to  higher  service,  and  rested  from  her  labors,  — 
the  first  laborer  in  the  American  mission  to  be 
gathered,  as  "  seed  sown  of  God,  to  ripen  for  the 
harvest."  She  was  of  English  birth,  a  woman 
of  superior  culture  and  piety,  and  one  who 
promised  distinguished  usefulness. 

The  work  at  the  new  station  prospered.  The 
hearers  at  public  worship  soon  increased  from 
seven  to  forty.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  T.  T.  Devan 
joined  the  mission  Oct.  24,  1844.  A  revival  of 
religion  sprang  up  in  Mr.  Shuck's  congregation, 
and  nineteen  were  baptized.  One  of  the  mis- 
sionaries spent  six  months  in  Canton,  convers- 
ing on  religion  and  distributing  tracts,  and  thus 
opening  new  doors  for  the  entrance  of  the 
gospel.  There  were  soon  at  Hongkong  six 
assistants,  two  schools  embracing  fifty  pupils, 
and  a  theological  class  ;  and  a  place  on  the 
mainland  was  added  as  a  medical  station,  which 
the  missionaries  visited  every  week. 

A  treaty  of  corhmerce  had  already  been 
formed  between  the  United  States  and  China, 
which  was  signed  July  3,  1844,  providing -for  the 
erection  of  chapels  and  hospitals  at  each  of  the 
five  open  ports,  besides  other  commercial  advan- 
tages ;  and  the  missions  from  this  country  were 
distinctly  recognized  as  among  the  interests  that 
were  to  enjoy  the  protection  of  the  government. 

But,  notwithstanding  many  changes,  the  work 
prospered,  and  the  number  of  converts  increased. 
In  1847  the  church  numbered  sixteen,  and  there 
were  several  applicants  for  baptism.  Two  Chi- 
nese  women  were  baptized,    the    first  in    con- 


2  24  SOUTHERN  CHINA  MISSION. 

nection  with  the  mission.  There  were  three 
out-stations,  and  five  native  preachers  and  assist- 
ants. In  1848  Rev.  J.  W.  Johnson  and  wife 
were  added  to  the  missionary  force,  and  the  mis- 
sion took  an  honorable  place  among  the  evangel- 
izing agencies  in  China,  —  an  empire  embra- 
cing at  least  one-quarter,  perhaps  one-third,  of 
the  world's  population.  This  year  twenty  thou- 
sand copies  of  different  tracts  were  printed  by 
native  workmen.  The  Union  never  had  a  press 
in  China :  all  the  printing  has  been  done  on 
blocks  by  hand,  which  is  found  in  that  country 
to  be  the  cheapest  method.  Dr.  Dean  also  pre- 
pared for  the  press  a  volume  containing  Notes 
on  the  Gospel  of  Matthew. 

In  1850  Dr.  Dean  spent  twenty  days  in 
Cochin  China,  kindling  the  light  of  the  gospel 
in  new  realms  of  darkness.  This  year  he  also 
prepared  Notes  on  Genesis  and  the  Acts.  A 
chapel  was  erected  on  an  island  near  Hong- 
kong, called  Long  Island,  where  forty  boys  were 
gathered  into  missionary  schools.  But,  as  the 
population  of  this  island  could  be  easily  reached 
from  Hongkong,  this  new  out-station  was  soon 
suspended. 

In  1851-52  the  truth  was  communicated  more 
widely  than  in  any  year  preceding.  The  church 
numbered  twenty-five ;  there  was  a  school  at 
each  of  the  four  out-staljions,  and  sixty  pupils. 
Several  were  baptized,  and  one  convert,  unbap- 
tized,  died,  —  the  first-fruits  in  heaven  of  the 
mission  in  China.  A  new  enterprise  was  also 
undertaken,  —  a  school  for  girls,  by  the  wife  of 
Ko  Abak.     This  was  an  important  step  forward 


CHINA   AND   CALIFORNIA.  225 

in  a  country  where  infanticide  prevailed  at  that 
time,  and  where,  such  was  the  drift  of  public 
opinion,  it  was  deemed  a  misfortune  to  be  born 
a  woman,  or  to  be  the  parents  of  a  female  child. 

At  this  period  the  mission  in  China  began  to 
re-act  upon  this  country.  The  Chinese  emigra- 
tion to  California  had  already  begun  ;  the  emi- 
grants were  placed  in  a  new  attitude  in  respect 
to  the  gospel ;  and  it  was  important  to  put  the 
leaven  of  Divine  truth  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment  into  the  transplanted  mass  of  heathen- 
ism, which  might  hereafter  exert  an  important 
influence  on  the  politics  and  destiny  of  the 
United  States.  Many  books  and  tracts  were 
given  to  the  emigrants,  and  others  were  sent 
to  be  distributed  among  the  people  already 
settled  in  California.  Thus  the  darkness  of 
idolatry,  poured  upon  our  shores,  found  itself 
at  the  outset  confronted  by  the  light  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  dialect  of  heathenism  had  here 
become  a  dialect  for  the  gospel. 

Christianity  began  also  to  exercise  its  influ- 
ence in  behalf  of  the  children  of  China.  In 
1853  two  girls  from  the  boarding-school,  aged 
respectively  thirteen  and  fourteen  years,  were 
baptized,  besides  twenty  other  converts.  The 
infant  church,  early  instructed  in  the  impor- 
tance of  active  efforts  to  do  good,  contributed 
to  missionary  objects  a  sum  exceeding  one  dol- 
lar per  member,  "their  deep  poverty  abounding 
unto  the  riches  of  their  liberality."  In  1854, 
owing  to  various  circumstances,  the  working 
force  was  reduced  to  a  single  missionary ;  but 
the  native  element  was  beginning  to  be  a  use- 


2  26  SOUTHERN  CHINA   MISSION. 

fill  auxiliary.  A  native  assistant,  captured  by 
pirates,  was  carried  to  a  distant  place  on  the 
coast,  where  he  preached  from  village  to  village, 
and  from  house  to  house,  to  thousands  of  peo- 
ple, during  the  three  weeks  of  his  detention, 
sowing  broadcast  seed  which  the  Infinite  Hus- 
bandman will  not  suffer  to  be  scattered  in  vain. 

The  mission  and  its  converts  were  visited  at 
an  early  period  by  persecution.  The  disciples 
learned  that  they  had  embraced  a  religion  which 
was  not  free  from  self-denial  and  suffering.  Two 
assistants  in  1856,  engaged  in  a  missionary  tour, 
were  arrested,  imprisoned,  and  treated  with 
much  severity,  until,  after  the  expiration  of 
about  four  months,  they  were  allowed  to  go  free. 
The  next  year  the  operations  of  the  mission 
were  interrupted  by  the  hostilities  between  the 
British  authorities  and  the  people  of  Canton  ; 
and  the  work  of  the  brethren  was  confined 
almost  exclusively  to  the  island  of  Hongkong. 
When  the  political  skies  grew  clearer,  it  was 
proposed  to  move  the  mission  to  Swatow  on  the 
mainland,  a  place  which  promised  better  access 
to  the  Tie  Chiu  population.  Mr.  Ashmore  re 
moved  from  Bangkok,  Siam,  in  1858,  to  Hong 
kong,  and  afterwards  to  Swatow.  Mr.  Sawtelle 
joined  the  mission  in  1859,  and  the  Swatow  Mis- 
sion was  established  on  the  continent,  the  mis- 
sionaries fixing  their  residence  on  Double  Island, 
distant  only  five  minutes'  sail. 

Swatow  became  an  open  port  in  1861.  Here 
and  at  Tathaupo,  five  miles  distant,  now  occu- 
pied as  an  out-station,  surrounded  by  a  popula- 
tion of  thirty  thousand  Chin-ese,  the  best  point 


INQUIRERS  AND   CONVERTS.  227 

of  approach  to  the  Tie  Chiu  people  seemed  to 
the  missionaries  to  have  been  reached.  Mrs. 
Johnson  recommenced,  and  continued  with  in- 
defatigable perseverance,  a  school  for  girls,  and 
another  for  boys ;  and  two  converts  were  bap- 
tized. 

The  work  at  Hongkong  was  not  encouraging. 
The  resident  members  were  reduced  to  eight  or 
nine ;  the  chapel  at  Chekchu  was  crumbling  to 
the  ground,  and  the  people  speaking  the  Tie 
Chiu  dialect  had  nearly  all  removed  elsewhere. 
The  property  of  the  Missionary  Union  at  Hong- 
kong was  sold  on  favorable  terms,  and  Hongkong 
became  an  out-station  of  Swatow.  Mr.  Saw- 
telle's  health  failed,  and  he  removed  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  closed  his  connection  with  the  Union. 

But  the  work  was  not  dead  :  iti  1862  inquirers 
came  from  different  and  distant  places  to  be 
instructed  in  regard  to  the  way  of  salvation. 
In  the  month  of  May  six  were  baptized  at  one 
time  by  Mr.  Johnson,  of  whom  three  were  per- 
sons of  more  than  common  literary  attainments 
—  one  of  them  a  military  mandarin.  The  next 
year  seventeen  came  as  inquirers  from  another 
locality,  afterwards  adopted  as  an  out-station. 
Four  of  them  were  females,  and  applied  for  bap- 
tism. The  work  was  everywhere  making  prog- 
ress, and  becoming  known  more  widely.  Mr. 
Telford,  formerly  a  missionary  in  Bangkok,  this 
year  removed  temporarily  to  Swatow ;  but  in 
1864  he  returned  to  the  United  States.  In 
1863  there  were  thirty  church-members,  of  whom 
more  than  half  had  been  baptized  since  the 
removal  of  the  mission  to  Swatow.     Six  of  the 


2  28  SOUTHERN  CHINA  MISSION. 

number  were  pupils  in  Mrs.  Johnson's  school 
for  girls. 

In  1865  the  residence  of  the  missionaries  was 
removed  from  Double  Island  to  Kakchie,  oppo- 
site Swatow ;  the  officials  of  the  English  and 
American  governments  having  planted  them- 
selves at  this  point,  and  their  presence  being  a 
protection  to  the  property  of  the  Union.  Not- 
withstanding opposition  and  persecution,  the 
gospel  made  progress,  and  the  missionaries  felt 
called  upon  to  "lengthen  their  cords,  and 
strengthen  their  stakes."  Between  October, 
1864,  and  October,  1865,  twenty-four  were  re- 
ceived to  the  church  by  baptism,  —  nineteen  at 
Swatow  and  five  at  Hongkong.  At  one  of  the 
out-stations  the  power  cf  the  gospel  was  admi- 
rably manifested.  A  bold  effort  was  made  by 
the  heathen  people  to  drive  away  the  assistants, 
and  to 'demolish  the  chapol.  This  opposition 
had  been  provoked  by  the  conversion  of  two 
aged  persons,  one  of  them  a  devout  Buddhist 
well  known  in  the  city,  and  the  other  a  widow 
woman,  who  was  also  an  earnest  idolater.  The 
mob  openly  attacked  the  house,  and  threatened 
violence  to  those  within.  The  converts  remained 
firm  through  all  the  persecution,  and  were  both 
baptized  soon  afterwards.  A  literary  graduate, 
at  first  seeking  Jesus  secretly  by  night,  like 
Nicodemus,  at  length  came  out  boldly,  in  the 
face  of  opposition  and  persecution,  and  declared 
himself  a  believer  in  Christ,  and  a  fearless 
confessor. 

At  another  out-station  six  were  baptized. 
Here,  in  the  absence  of  a  chapel,  the  meetings 


STEADFASTNESS   UNDER  PERSECUTION.   229 

were  held  in  the  house  of  a  widow  woman,  one. 
of  the  first-fruits  of  the  mission,  and  the  guide 
and  helper  of  many  in  the  way  of  life.  Her 
house  was,  however,  too  small  to  accommodate 
all  who  came.  They  filled  her  humble  room, 
and  then  gathered  in  crowds  around  the  door, 
"  in  nothing  terrified  by  the  adversaries."  At 
other  places,  a  few  hours  distant  from  Swatow, 
in  different  directions,  promising  openings  ap- 
peared, inviting  the  labors  of  the  brethren  and 
the  native  helpers. 

In  1867  the  missionaries  reported  eight  or 
nine  out-stations  and  as  many  native  preachers, 
and  a  promising  work  everywhere.  Three  of 
the  native  Christians  died,  who  had  been  an 
honor  to  their  profession,  and  whose  loss  was 
painfully  felt.  One  of  them  made  a  will  two 
years  before  his  death,  expressly  forbidding  any 
idolatrous  ceremonies  at  his  burial. 

An  interesting  account  is  given,  showing  the 
steadfastness  of  the  native  Christians  in  resist- 
ing every  thing  bearing  the  semblance  of  an 
encouragement  to  idolatry.  A  native  preach- 
er and  assistant  at  a  wayside  chapel  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  tumultuous  crowd,  demanding  of 
him  a  contribution  to  an  idolatrous  festival. 
They  were  armed  with  clubs  and  knives,  and 
declared  that  every  one  was  taxed  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  the  disciples  of  Christ  should  not 
escape.  The  brethren  refused,  saying  that  they 
could  not  uphold  idolatry,  directly  or  indirectly. 
But  the  crowd,  including  some  of  the  leading 
men  of  the  place,  pressed  upon  them,  and  shook 
their  fists  in  their  faces,  and  brandished  their 


230  SOUTHERN  CHINA   MISSION. 

knives.  Finding  that  they  were  prisoners,  and 
that  mischief  was  intended,  they  consented  to 
pay  what  was  demanded,  but  under  protest, 
declaring  that  it  was  robbery,  and  that  they 
had  no  sympathy  with  its  destined  use.  But 
the  event  turned  out  to  the  furtherance  of  the 
cause.  The  whole  country  around  heard  of  the 
gospel  in  consequence  of  these  proceedings ; 
the  matter  was  noised  abroad  and  talked  over 
everywhere ;  and  more  was  accomplished  in 
giving  publicity  to  Christianity  in  two  or  three 
days,  than  the  efforts  of  the  missionaries  or  the 
native  preachers  could  have  effected  in  as  many 
months. 

In  1867  another  advance  was  made  in  mis- 
sion work.  Two  Chinese  preachers  were  set 
apart  by  ordination  to  the  Christian  ministry. 
Two  new  churches  were  also  organized,  over 
which  they  were  stationed  as  pastors.  A  few 
years  previously,  these  two  brethren  had  been 
imprisoned  and  cruelly  beaten  for  the  name  of 
Christ,  in  the  same  city  in  which  they  were  now 
ordained.  In  seven  years  the  baptized  be- 
lievers had  increased  to  eighty-four  in  number, 
and  seventy-two  were  present  at  the  com- 
munion held  in  connection  with  the  ordination. 
The  preachers  made  frequent  excursions  into 
the  neighboring  country,  and  one  of  them  found 
an  efficient  helper  in  the  woman  before  spoken 
of,  in  whose  house  and  around  whose  door  the 
crowds  used  to  assemble  to  hear  the  word,  and 
to  whose  faithful  efforts  a  large  portion  of  the 
members  of  the  church  traced  their  first  reli- 
gious impressions. 


THE    THEOLOGICAL    CLASS.  231 

In  1868  thirteen  were  baptized,  of  whom 
one  was  an  American  sea-captain,  two  seamen 
from  an  English  vessel,  and  a  colored  man, 
formerly  a  Wesleyan,  who  had  once  labored  as 
a  missionary  along;  the  wharves  in  London. 
Many  of  the  members  of  the  church  were 
females,  several  of  them  widows  and  persons 
advanced  in  life.  But  it  was  testified  that  they 
were  a  power  in  the  community,  and  in  all  the 
region  round  about  the  report  of  their  faith  was 
spread  abroad.  The  church  of  Tangleng,  an 
out-station,  beginning  with  twenty-eight  mem- 
bers, had  increased  to  forty ;  and  the  members 
contributed  liberally  in  proportion  to  their 
means  towards  the  chapel  expenses.  The  total 
number  of  members  in  all  the  churches  connect- 
ed with  this  station  and  out-station  was  one 
hundred  and  seven. 

In  1869  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson  withdrew  from 
Swatow  in  consequence  of  impaired  health,  and 
labored  for  a  time  in  connection  with  a  church 
in  California,  with  signal  evidences  of  the 
Divine  approval.  During  the  year,  thirty-five 
were  baptized  in  connection  with  the  Southern 
China  Mission,  including  two  or  three  each  at 
several  of  the  out-stations.  An  effort  was  also 
undertaken  anew  to  train  a  class  of  native 
preachers,  in  order  to  increase  their  efficiency 
as  ministers  of  the  gospel.  The  Lord's  Supper 
was  administered  at  the  station  once  in  two 
months ;  and  on  those  occasions  the  preachers 
came  together  and  spent  several  days  with  the 
missionaries,  reciting  lessons  previously  given 
out,  listening  to  instruction,  and  receiving  hints 


232  SOUTHERN  CHINA   MISSION 

for  future  studies.  These  labors  were  deemed 
of  great  importance. 

In  1870  Mr  .Ashmore  endeavored  to  engage 
the  native  Christians  in  the  work  of  evangeliz- 
ing their  own  countrymen,  by  assuming  the 
responsibility  of  the  direction  of  two  or  more 
Chinese  missionaries,  to  be  supported  by  funds 
raised  in  the  church.  They  entered  heartily 
into  the  work,  selecting  the  station,  hiring  the 
house,  and  paying  most  of  the  expenses.  As 
a  means  of  self-education  in  Christian  activity 
and  liberality,  this  was  thought  to  be  an  im- 
portant movement  among  the  Chinese  people. 

In  1 87 1  Mr.  Johnson  returned  to  his  work  in 
China,  after  an  absence  of  two  years ;  and  Miss 
Fielde,  formerly  in  Bangkok,  an  earnest  and 
indefatigable  laborer,  was  transferred  to  the 
station  at  Swatow.  But  at  the  same  time  with 
this  addition  of  help,  the  brethren  were  called 
to  mourn  the  death  of  the  first  ordained  Chinese 
preacher,  who  had  been  baptized  twenty-eight 
years  before  by  Dr.  Dean,  and  had  been  from 
the  beginning  a  most  faithful  assistant.  He 
lived  an  exemplary  life,  and  enjoyed  the  confi- 
dence of  all  who  knew  him.  The  production  of 
one  such  character  is  a  testimony  to  the  power 
of  Christianity  which  the  world  cannot  gainsay. 
This  year  two  of  the  out-stations,  with  their 
evangelists,  were  supported  and  directed  in 
their  work  by  the  native  church  the  whole  year, 
and  a  third  a  part  of  the  year ;  forty-one  were 
baptized,  and  three  hundred  and  thirty-one  dol- 
lars collected  for  evangelizing  purposes. 

In  1872  the  mission  was  afflicted  by  the  death 


WORK  OF  FEMALE  MISSIONARIES.       233 

of  Mr.  Johnson,  after  twenty-five  years  of  faith- 
ful service.  He  opened  the  station  at  Swatovv, 
and  was  connected  with  it  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Partridge,  formerly  of 
Bangkok,  were  transferred  to  Swatow,  and  ar- 
rived in  March.  Mrs.  Johnson  continued  to 
labor  with  much  success ;  out  of  fifteen  girls 
under  her  charge,  six  were  baptized.  She  also 
had  the  direction  of  the  labors  of  several  Bible- 
women.  The  Chinese  preachers  exhibited  both 
propriety  and  power  in  making  known  the  gos- 
pel, and  the  fruit  garnered  numbered  twenty- 
two  baptisms.  In  a  summary  of  the  mission  at 
this  date,  it  was  recorded  that  in  twelve  years 
the  number  baptized  in  the  mission  was  two 
hundred  and  forty-six,  of  whom  seven  were 
foreigners,  twenty  had  died,  eleven  were  exclud- 
ed, and  the  names  of  two  hundred  and  eight 
remained,  of  whom  perhaps  there  were  twenty 
whose  residence  and  circumstances  were  un- 
known. 

In  187.3  two  or  three  cottages  were  erected 
by  Miss  Fielde  to  accommodate  about  thirty 
Bible-women  in  as  many  different  towns  and 
cities,  where  they  could  have  shelter  while 
engaged  in  their  work,  and  as  a  home  for  her- 
self in  her  visits  of  superintendence.  A  house 
was  also  built  for  theological  students,  contain- 
ing ten  rooms.  Messrs.  Ashmore  and  Partridge 
divided  between  them  during  a  part  of  the  year 
the  work  of  theological  instruction,  as  in  similar 
institutions  at  home.  Miss  Fielde  prepared  a 
synopsis  of  the  Gospels  in  the  simplest  terms 
of  the  Dopular  language,  for  distribution  by  her 


234  SOUTHERN  CHINA   MISSION. 

Bible-women  among  the  women  and  children. 
Mrs.  Partridge  commenced  a  school  for  girls  on 
the  plan  of  that  of  Mrs.  Johnson,  who  retired 
from  the  field  where  she  had  labored  so  long 
and  so  efficiently.  An  encouraging  circum- 
stance, indicating  progress,  was  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Chinese  school  in  Swatow  by  some 
of  the  members  of  the  church,  for  the  benefit 
of  their  own  children.  A  young  man  lately 
baptized,  and  by  profession  a  teacher,  was  put 
in  charge  of  it ;  and  eighteen  or  twenty  schol- 
ars, enough  to  remunerate  the  teacher,  at  once 
entered.  This  year  forty-seven  were  baptized, 
and  another  preacher  ordained. 

Another  laborer,  Rev.  Mr.  McKibben,  with 
his  wife,  joined  the  mission  in  November,  1875. 
In  1876  several  instances  of  persecution  oc- 
cuired  at  some  of  the  out-stations,  because  the 
Christians  refused  to  give  money  to  support 
the  heathen  festivals.  But  the  gospel  contin- 
ued to  advance ;  forty-nine  were  baptized,  and 
urgent  requests  for  chapels  and  teachers  were 
sent  from  districts  beyond.  The  spirit  of  in- 
quiry increased.  In  1876  the  mission  reported 
two  stations,  fifteen  out-stations,  and  354  mem- 
bers. Misses  Thompson  and  Norwood  were 
added  to  the  laborers.  At  that  date  there  were 
seventeen  out-stations,  fourteen  native  preach- 
ers, and  twenty  Bible-women.  For  the  last 
eight  years,  only  three  or  four  of  the  bi-monthly 
communion  seasons  have  passed  without  bap- 
tisms. 

The  year  1877  was  one  of  special  ingathering, 
169  being  baptized,  making  the  number  of  mem- 


SUMMING   UP,  235 

bers  512.     One  of  the  missionaries,  in  review- 
ing the  year,  writes  as  follows  :  — 

"  One  hundred  and  nine  men  and  sixty  women  have 
renounced  idolatry,  have  given  evidence  of  faith  in 
Christ,  and  have  been  .baptized  into  his  name.  None 
of  all  these  have  thus  far  given  us  reason  to  regret  that 
we  admitted  them  into  the  church.  Fifteen  of  the  num- 
ber were  seventy  years  old  and  upwards,  the  oldest  being 
eighty-four  years  of  age.  These  169  persons  represent 
nearly  seventy  towns  and  villages  in  the  six  districts  in 
which  we  have  stations,  showing  that  the  truth  is  being 
more  and  more  widely  disseminated,  although  it  has  as 
yet  reached  but  few  of  the  hundreds  of  villages  in  our 
field. 

"  Besides  those  received,  a  large  number  have  been 
examined,  who  have  been  advised  to  wait  until  they 
should  obtain  more  definite  knowledge  of  the  truth,  or 
until  there  was  more  satisfactory  proof  of  a  change  of 
heart. 

"  We  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  number  of 
believers  in  Christ  here  in  Tie  Chiu  is  not  hmited  to  the 
number  of  names  on  our  church-rolls.  I  have  learned 
of  nine  persons,  not  church-members,  who  have  died  in 
the  faith,  and  have  been  buried  with  Christian  rites, 
during  the  past  year.  The  evidence  of  faith  in  Jesus 
which  was  given  by  some  of  these  was  eminently  satis- 
factory." 

In  Mrs.  Partridge's  school  for  girls,  number- 
ing sixteen  pupils,  a  year  previously  only  one 
of  the  number  was  a  Christian ;  but  six  more 
have  since  been  baptized.  Two  new  chapels 
were  fitted  up  or  built  in  that  year  at  out-sta- 
tions ;  one  of  them  was  erected  on  land  given 
for  the  purpose  by  a  native  member.  The 
native  Christians  contributed  one  hundred  and 
forty  dollars  towards  the  work  in  one  case, 
and  seventy-seven  dollars  in  the  other. 


236  SOUTHERN  CHINA   MISSION 

The  missionaries,  and  date  of  their  connection 
with  the  mission,  are  as  follows  :  Rev.  W.  and 
Mrs.  Ashmore,  1863  ;  Miss  A.  M.  Fielde,  1873  ; 
Rev.  S.  B.  and  Mrs.  Partridge,  1873  ;  Rev.  W. 
K.  and  Mrs.  McKibben,  1875  ;  Miss  M.  E. 
Thompson,  1876;  Miss  A.  S.  Norwood,  1877; 
Miss  C.  H.  Daniells,  M.D.,  1878. 

There  are  in  all  twenty-five  stations  where 
preaching  is  maintained,  and  fifteen  native 
evangelists,  of  whom  four  are  ordained.  There 
are  also  fifteen  Bible-students,  looking  forward 
to  the  ministry,  and  twenty-one  Bible-women. 

These  women  receive  a  careful  and  effective 
training,  and  are  sent  out  two  and  two  to  the 
villages  where  there  are  stations,  or  to  such  other 
places  as  may  offer  encouragement.  In  Mr.  Ash- 
more's  district,  two  new  chapels  were  built  dur- 
ing 1878.  In  Mr.  McKibben's  district  three 
new  preaching  stations  were  secured.  One  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  were  baptized,  and  thirteen 
died  in  the  faith.  The  present  number,  accord- 
ing to  the  list,  is  617. 

Contributions  for  schools  and  mission  work, 
;^42i.  This  does  not  include  any  of  the  con- 
tributions of  the  missionaries,  which  were  reck- 
oned separately. 

Early  in  the  year  two  ordained  preachers 
were  taken  away  by  death,  and  four  others 
ordained. 

There  has  been  inaugurated,  at  some  of  the 
larger  stations,  a  subsidiary  training-class,  under 
the  direction  of  the  preacher  in  charge :  they 
have  an  exercise  each  Sunday  evening.  It  is 
desired   that   every  preacher   should   assist   in 


SUMMING   UP.  237 

raising  up  his  own  helpers,  and  consider  it  an 
essential  part  of  his  work  to  prepare  faithful 
men  to  whom  he  may  commit  the  things  he 
has  heard  among  many  witnesses.  It  is  hoped, 
also,  that  it  may  prove  a  source  of  supply  to 
the  theological  class. 

The  things  named  are  among  tangible  results. 
Much  other  work  has  been  done  which  cannot 
as  yet  be  embodied  in  statistics.  A  vast  amount 
of  seed  has  been  sown.  Many  hundreds  of 
towns  and  villages  have  been  visited,  and  the 
way  prepared.  In  November  and  December 
the  number  of  villages  visited  by  the  Bible- 
women  was  reported  as  ninety-eight.  The 
young  men  are  doing  a  great  work  in  the  same 
way.  All  around  the  missionary  foci  the  light 
is  shining  out  into  the  dense  darkness.  From 
thousands  and  thousands  of  minds  the  gross 
ignorance  as  to  what  Christianity  is,  is  becom- 
ing dissipated.  In  many  thousands  of  minds 
there  is  being  formed  some  outline  conception 
of  the  great  truths  which  the  missionaries  teach 
concerning  a  living  God,  an  all-sufficient  Re- 
deemer, resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  eternal 
judgment. 

The  mission  in  Southern  China  is,  like  all 
missions,  a  work  of  faith,  and  makes  large  de- 
mands on  the  faith  and  prayers  of  all  Chris- 
tians. But  it  has  for  its  laborers  a  noble  and 
efficient  band  of  men  and  women;  and  He  whose 
work  it  is  has  given  them  their  wages  hitherto, 
and  will  never  suffer  them  to  toil  in  vain. 


No.  XV. 

EASTERN   CHINA   OR   NINGPO   MISSION. 

Geography  of  Ningpo.  —  The  Missionaries  at  Ningpo.  —  Hospital  at 
Ningpo.  —  Church  organized.  —  First  Baptism.  —  The  Scriptures 
in  Chinese. — Out-station  at  Suchau.  —  Death  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Goddard.  —  The  Progress  of  the  Work  in  Ningpo.  —  The  Island 
of  Chusan  visited.  —  Retrenchment. — Church  organized  on  Chu- 
san.  —  Literary  Men  called.  —  Chinese  Females  baptized.  —  Years 
of  Progress.  —  The  Opening  at  Hangchow.  —  The  Name  changed. 

—  "  Instead  of  the  Fathers,  the  Children."  —  History  and  Death 
of  Mrs.  Goddard.  —  Church  at  Hangchow  —  Station  at  Zaohying. 

—  Church  at  Sangbah.  —  Grace  triumphing  in  Death.  —  A  Stanch 
Disciple  of  Jesus.  —  Baptist  Association  formed.  ■ —  Death  of  Dr. 
Knowlton.  — The  Medical  Work  renewed.  —  Present  State.  —  Con- 
cluding Thought. 

NINGPO  is  one  of  the  five  ports  in  China 
opened  to  foreign  commerce,  and  the  resi- 
dence of  British  and  other  foreigners,  by  the 
treaty  of  August,  1842.  The  other  free  ports 
were  Hongkong,  Fuchau,  Amoy,  and  Shanghai. 
Ningpo  is  in  latitude  30°,  situated  near  the 
mouth  of  the  river  of  the  same  name.  The 
population  is  250,000.  The  island  of  Chusan 
lies  about  thirty  miles  east  of  Ningpo,  and 
has  a  population  of  from  50,000  to  100,000. 
Durinsf  the  war  of  the  Chinese  rebellion  under 
Taeping  Wang  in  1861,  Ningpo  was  subdued 
and  sacked  by  the  insurgents.  The  mission 
238 


HOSPITAL  AT  NINGPO.  239 

property,  however,  was  unharmed,  and  the  rebels 
were  driven  out  May  10,  1862. 

Besides  Ningpo,  which  at  first  gave  name  to 
this  mission,  are  Suchau,  Hangchow,  Zaohying, 
and  several  other  populous  places,  in  which  out- 
stations  have  been  established,  churches  organ- 
ized, and  many  converts  have  from  time  to  time 
been  gathered  into  them. 

The  missionaries  who  have  labored  in  this 
field  are  Messrs.  D.  J.  Macgowan,  M.D.,  who 
arrived  in  1843  ;  E.  C.  Lord,  1847;  Josiah  God- 
dard,  1848;  M.  J.  Knowlton,  1854;  Horace  Jen- 
kins, i860;  Carl  T.  Kreyer,  1866;  Josiah  R. 
Goddard,  1868;  M.  A.  Churchill,  1875;  Rev. 
S.  R  Barchet,  M.D.,  1875.  Of  these  Dr.  Mac- 
gowan's  connection  with  the  mission  was  closed 
by  his  resignation  in  October,  1863,  and  Mr. 
Kreyer's  in  1870,  he  having  accepted  a  position 
as  teacher  in  the  'Chinese  college  at  Shanghai. 
Rev.  Mr.  Goddard,  sen.,  died  Sept.  4,  1854,  at 
Ningpo,  and  Mr.  Knowlton,  Sept.  10,  1874. 

The  medical  hospital  established  by  Dr.  Mac- 
gowan in  1843  was  designed  to  be  an  effective 
means  of  attracting  those  who  were  suffering 
under  maladies  of  the  body  to  an  institution 
where  they  might  find  healing  for  the  graver 
maladies  of  the  soul.  And,  as  the  Lord  Jesus 
began  his  ministry  by  cleansing  the  leper  of 
Matt,  viii.,  so  this  mission  made  its  first  ap- 
peal to  the  people  by  offering  to  heal  the  soul 
through  the  helping  of  the  body.  In  eight 
months  of  the  year  1844,  2,139  cases  of  disease 
were  treated  in  Dr.  Macgowan's  hospital,  of 
which   1,739  were  males,  and  240  females  and 


240    EASTERN  CHINA    OR  NINGPO  MISSION, 

children.  In  1849,  12,956  patients  were  pre- 
scribed for  by  Dr.  Macgowan  and  a  native 
physician;  in  185 1,  on  the  island  of  Chusan, 
2,000;  in  1853,  11,031;  and  in  1854,  11,000. 
And  during  all  this  period  of  ceaseless  activity, 
every  opportunity  was  embraced  to  lead  those 
who  came  for  bodily  healing  to  seek  of  the  Great 
Physician  healing  for  the  soul. 

A  chapel  was  opened  in  the  centre  of'Ningpo 
in  January,  1846.  Dr.  Macgowan  and  two  na- 
tive assistants,  besides  other  laborers,  preached 
every  Sabbath  to  a  congregation  of  from  eighty 
to  a  hundred  hearers,  and  were  encouraged  by 
a  few  applicants  for  baptism.  When  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lord  arrived  in  1847,  the  hearers  were 
from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred  in  number, 
of  whom  twenty-five  or  thirty  were  females.  A 
church  was  organized  at  Ningpo,  Oct.  31,  1.847, 
and  in  1848  a  Bible-class  and  a  day  school.  In 
1849  religious  services  were  first  held  on  the 
island  of  Chusan,  and  the  church  of  Ningpo 
sustained  an  out-station  fifteen  miles  distant,  up 
the  Ningpo  River.  The  contributions  of  the 
church  to  benevolent  objects  this  year  were 
eighty-four  dollars,  the  number  of  church-mem- 
bers being  only  eight ;  equal  to  ten  dollars  and 
a  half  per  member.  In  May,  1849,  ^^  aged  man 
was  baptized,  the  first-fruits  of  the  mission  in 
Ningpo.  He  adorned  his  profession  by  a  Chris- 
tian life  of  only  four  months,  and  in  September 
of  the  same  year  died  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel. 

In  1 85 1  the  church  numbered  nine,  of  whom 
only  three  were  Chinese.  From  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  church  in  1847,  four  native  converts 


DEATH  OF  MR.   AND  MRS.    GODDARD.    241 

had  been  baptized  ;  two  or  three  conversions 
were  reported  on  the  island  of  Chusan  ;  the 
book  of  Exodus  was  translated,  and  three  thou- 
sand copies  printed.  The  Bible  had  already- 
been  translated  in  .two  different  versions,  one  by 
Dr.  Marshman,  the  other  by  Dr.  Morrison  ;  and 
a  plan  was  formed  to  secure  a  still  more  satis- 
factory translation  by  the  united  labors  of  a 
committee  of  the  missionaries  of  all  the  denomi- 
nations in  China.  It  was  to  participate  in  this 
work  that  Mr.  Goddard  had  been  'summoned 
from  his  post  in  Bangkok.  It  was  found  bet- 
ter, however,  by  the  missionaries  of  the  Baptist 
denomination,  for  obvious  reasons,  to  make  an 
independent  version ;  and  Mr.  Goddard  engaged 
in  this  work,  completing  the  New  Testament  by 
the  close  of  1853,  —  the  monument  of  his  life, 
—  and  proceeding  in  the  Old  Testament  as  far 
as  the  end  of  Leviticus.  His  death  in  1854  put 
a  period,  for  the  time,  to  this  important  work. 

In  1852  Dr.  Macgowan  made  a  tour  into  the 
interior,  and  visited  the  city  of  Suchau,  where 
a  church  edifice  of  brick  was  built,  and  dedi- 
cated Sept.  26.  Three  baptisms  were  reported. 
The  interesting  fact  is  stated  that  in  1853  all 
the  members  of  the  church  were  accustomed  to 
attend  the  monthly  concert,  and  the  contribu- 
tions amounted  to  more  than  four  dollars  per 
member.  Of  what  church  in  any  Christian 
country  could  so  much  as  this  be  said  "i  This 
year  more  than  twelve  thousand  portions  of 
Scripture  were  distributed  among  the  people, 
and  upwards  of  thirty  thousand  tracts. 

Three  years  later  Mrs.  Goddard  died  in  Provi- 


242    EASTERN  CHINA    OR  NINGPO  MISSION. 

dence,  R.I.,  having  returned  to  this  country  soon 
after  the  death  of  her  husband.  Thus,  husband 
and  wife,  in  a  period  of  less  than  fifteen  years, 
partly  spent  in  Siam  and  partly  in  China,  had 
finished  their  missionary  career  nobly  and  use- 
fully, and  received  the  Master's  "Well  done!" 
The  circumstances  of  the  history  of  Mr.  God- 
dard,  this  valued  missionary,  are  deeply  interest- 
ing, as  an  illustration  of  the  methods  of  Divine 
providence  and  grace,  and  of  the  results  of 
Christian  faithfulness.  An  obscure  young  wo- 
man in  Boston,  the  first  convert  baptized  by 
Dr.  Baldwin  in  the  great  revival  of  1803-7,  soon 
after  her  baptism  wrote  a  letter  to  her  female 
friend  in  Worcester  County,  Mass.,  adding  in  a 
postscript  a  single  sentence  to  the  husband  of 
the  latter,  then  an  unconverted  man.  That  sen- 
tence was  the  means  of  his  conversion.  That 
man  was  David  Goddard,  who  afterwards  became 
a  revered  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  an  inter- 
ested participant  in  the  early  missionary  efforts 
of  the  Baptist  denomination.  His  son  of  many 
prayers  became  Josiah  Goddard,  the  missionary 
and  translator  of  the  New  Testament,  and  his 
grandson  is  the  present  Josiah  R.  Goddard,  who 
is  so  nobly  continuing  the  work  which  his  father 
nobly  began.  And  so  the  postscript  of  the 
young  woman's  letter  in  Boston,  dictated  in 
Christian  faithfulness,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly 
fourscore  years  is  still  doing  service  for  Christ 
on  the  hills  and  in  the  valleys  and  among  the 
islands  of  China. 

After    the    death    of    Mr.    Goddard,    Messrs. 
Lord  and  Knowlton  took  charge  of  the  work  in 


THE  ISLAND   OF  CHUSAN  VISITED.     243 

Ningpo.  Eighteen  meetings  for  the  exposition 
of  the  gospel  to  the  Chinese  in  Ningpo  were 
held  every  week,  and  at  these  meetings  perhaps 
twelve  hundred  in  all  heard  the  way  of  salvation. 
A  thousand  New.  Testaments  in  Chinese  were 
sent  to  California ;  and  thus  the  work  of  mis- 
sions among  the  heathen  came  to  be  helpful  in 
the  home-mission  work  among  one  of  the  impor- 
tant immigrant  populations  of  the  Pacific  slope 
of  America.  Dr.  Macgowan  also  published  a 
Chinese  newspaper  at  private  expense,  carrying 
forty-eight  thousand  pages  of  religious  and  other 
reading  into  the  families  of  China  during  the 
year.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  this 
year  by  two  native  Christians  to  penetrate  to 
Nanking,  and  put  the  New  Testament  into  the 
hands  of  the  insurgent  chief,  Taeping  Wang. 
They  distributed  many  tracts  on  their  way. 
One  of  them  was  arrested  and  placed  in  con- 
finement, and  a  ransom  was  demanded  for  his 
deliverance.  The  time  for  the  display  of  God's 
saving  power  here  was  not  yet  come ;  but  the 
word  of  God  was  not  bound. 

In  the  year  1855  an  assistant  preached  twice 
on  the  Sabbath  and  twice  every  week  on  the 
island  of  Chusan.  Two  schools  were  maintained, 
one  on  Chusan,  and  one  at  Ningpo,  with  fifty 
pupils.  Two  assistants  visited  Hangchow,  the 
capital  of  the  province,  at  the  literary  examina- 
tion, to  distribute  Scriptures  and  tracts.  Mr. 
Knowlton  visited  several  parts  of  the  island  of 
Chusan,  and  was  cordially  received  everywhere. 
At  one  place,  the  capital  of  the  island,  a  room 
for   meetings  was  hired,  and  an  assistant  sta- 


244    EASTERN  CHINA    OR  NTNGPO  MISSION. 

tioned  there.  The  Spirit  was  manifestly  present, 
and  converts  came  to  Christ.  Three  former 
leaders  of  the  Catholic  church  in  Chusan  be- 
came hopefully  the  subjects  of  Divine  grace. 
Two  of  them  were  baptized,  and  the  third 
applied  for  the  ordinance.  During  the  year 
thirteen  were  baptized,  one  of  them  a  Chinese 
woman. 

In  the  year  1856  the  funds  of  the  treasury  at 
home  were  deficient,  and  the  work  of  retrench- 
ment became  necessary.  The  places  for  preach- 
ing in  Ningpo  were  reduced  from  three  to  one, 
and  the  schools  were  dismissed.  Notwithstand- 
ing, a  hymn-book  was  prepared  this  year  by  Mr, 
Lord,  and  many  thousands  of  Scriptures  and 
tracts  were  put  in  circulation.  On  the  island 
of  Chusan  a  literary  man,  twenty-seven  years  of 
age,  travelled  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  — 
twelve  days'  journey  —  to  learn  about  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ.  In  a  tour  outside  of  Ningpo, 
Mr.  Knowlton  preached  on  one  occasion  in  an 
ancestral  temple  to  two  hundred  hearers,  many 
of  whom  were  females. 

The  work  gradually  advanced.  In  1857  the 
church  numbered  nineteen.  A  visit  was  made 
this  year  to  Kinghwa,  a  town  two  hundred  miles 
south-west  of  Ningpo,  having  a  population  of 
from  fifty  thousand  to  seventy-five  thousand 
souls.  This  place  was  afterwards  an  out-sta- 
tion, and  for  a  season  a  field  of  much  promise. 
Another  church,  of  seven  members,  was  organ- 
ized in  the  year  1858,  and  an  unusual  spirit  of 
inquiry  was  manifest,  both  there  and  in  Ningpo. 
In    the   latter   place  seven    were   baptized.     A 


CHINESE  FEMALES  BAPTIZED.  245 

gentle  shower  of  Divine  influence  seems  to  have 
descended  on  the  mission  at  Ningpo  from  the 
beginning.  With  no  large  ingathering,  as  in 
other  countries,  the  work  has  made  a  steady 
advancement,  and  polished  stones  have  been 
added,  one  by  one,  year  after  year,  to  the  spirit- 
ual building  which  God  is  erecting  on  the  ruins 
of  idolatry. 

In  March,  1859,  Mr.  Jenkins  joined  the  mis- 
sion. This  year  nineteen  were  baptized,  nearly 
doubling  the  churches.  At  the  same  time  an 
assistant  was  stationed  at  Kinghwa,  from  which 
place  four  were  baptized  and  received  into  the 
church  at  Ningpo.  Three  of  them  were  literary 
men.  Two  others,  one  of  them  a  literary  man, 
were  baptized  later,  in  1861,  and  Kinghwa  was 
adopted  as  an  out-station.  Thus  the  gospel  not 
only  reached  the  poor  and  degraded,  but  also 
found  converts  among  the  intellectual.  Another 
out-station  was  commenced  in  the  country, 
twenty  miles  distant  from  Ningpo ;  and  at  still 
another,  which  has  since  borne  good  fruit,  a 
church  of  five  members  was  organized  Sept.  8, 
1861. 

There  were  now  three  missionaries  and  their 
wives,  four  native  assistants,  and  four  out-sta- 
tions. Mrs.  Lord  superintended  a  boarding  and 
a  day  school.  An  unusual  number  of  Chinese 
females  were  baptized  in  1861  ;  nine  of  them 
put  on  Christ  by  an  open  profession  that 
year,  the  eldest  being  sixty  years  of  age.  This 
was  a  triumph  of  the  gospel  in  a  country  where, 
under  the  influence  of  idolatry,  the  female  sex 
is  oppressed  and  degraded  for  the  most  part, 


246   EASTERN  CHINA   OR  NINGPO  MISSION. 

and  deemed  unworthy  to  share,  as  in  Christian 
countries,  in  the  privileges,  the  enjoyments,  and 
the  hopes  of  men.  At  Ningpo  and  one  of  the 
out-stations  the  baptisms  numbered  seventeen, 
and  the  total  of  members  had  increased  to  forty- 
one.  The  work  also  made  constant  progress  in 
Chusan,  and  the  members  on  the  island  had 
increased  to  twenty-four.  The  next  year,  so 
abundantly  was  the  Spirit  poured  out  that  the 
number  of  native  Christians  at  all  the  stations 
had  risen  to  be  not  far  from  one  hundred  in 
number.  Of  six  assistants,  four  were  formed 
into  a  theological  class,  who  studied  during  the 
week,  and  preached  every  Sabbath.  Thus  a 
nucleus  was  formed  of  an  educated  and  efficient 
native  ministry.  Eleven  were  admitted  by  bap- 
tism to  the  church  at  Ningpo,  and  fifteen  on 
the  island  of  Chusan.  The  people  at  a  town 
on  the  north  side  of  the  island,  having  heard  of 
the  wonderful  news  of  salvation  by  the  death  of 
Christ,  requested  that  a  native  preacher  might 
be  sent  to  them  to  teach  them  concerning  the 
way  of  life.  Thus  new  openings  for  the  gospel 
invited  the  sickle  of  the  reaper  faster  than  it 
was  possible  to  answer  the  demand. 

In  1863  forty-one  converts  were  baptized, — 
more  than  in  any  previous  year  since  the  mis- 
sion began  ;  thirteen  of  the  number  were  women 
of  Ningpo.  A  new  out-station  was  also  adopted. 
But  this  year  two  native  assistants  died,  and  the 
labors  of  Dr.  Macgowan  and  Mr.  Lord  were 
withdrawn  from  the  mission,  — the  former  per- 
manently, and  the  latter  only  for  a  season. 

The  year  1865  was  one  of  marked  progress 


THE   OPENING  AT  HANGCHOW.  247 

in  every  department  of  the  mission.  Two 
native  Christian  women,  able  to  read,  —  an  ac- 
complishment not  common  among  the  females 
of  China,  —  were  employed  as  Bible-readers ; 
and  the  fruit  of  their  labors  was  seen  in  the 
fact  that  this  year  the  Ningpo  church  numbered 
forty  females  among  its  members.  This  year, 
also,  the  members  of  the  native  church  con- 
tributed a  sum  of  money  nearly  sufficient  to 
sustain  their  native  pastor,  some  of  them  giv- 
ing more  than  a  dollar  per  month.  Ningpo 
church  this  year  numbered*  sixty  members,  of 
whom  twenty  were  males,  and  forty  females,  — 
the  female  portion  of  this  Chinese  church,  as 
in  most  parts  of  the  earth,  becoming  the  pre- 
ponderating element.  Five  young  men  were 
attending  to  studies  adapted  to  make  them  use- 
ful in  the  ministry,  and  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee recommended  to  the  brethren  to  call  to 
ordination  one  or  more  of  the  native  assistants. 
In  that  dark  land  the  number  of  members  of 
the  churches  of  all  the  stations  connected  with 
Ningpo  was  now  141. 

In  1867  Mr.  Kreyer  commcHced  a  work  at 
Hangchow,  the  metropolis  of  the  province,  a 
city  of  four  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
the  centre  of  a  number  of  populous  towns  and 
villages.  His  chapel,  formerly  a  jeweller's  shop, 
was  named  "the  Jesus-doctrine-meeting-hall;" 
and  its  aim  changed  from  preparing  jewels  to 
shine  on  earth,  to  the  preparing  of  nobler  jewels 
to  shine  in  the  diadem  of  Christ  for  ever  and 
ever. 

This  year  the  disciples  on  Chusan  addressed 


248    EASTERN  CHINA   OR  NINGPO   MISSION. 

a  letter  to  the  Baptists  in  America,  requesting 
that  a  missionary  might  be  designated  especially 
to  them.  Ningpo,  the  central  station,  was  fifty 
miles  away,  and  it  was  difficult  for  some  of 
the  members,  especially  the  women,  to  walk  ten 
miles  over  the  hills  to  the  nearest  point  where 
the  gospel  was  regularly  preached,  and  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  New  Testament  administered. 
On  the  Chusan  group  of  islands  there  were  two 
hundred  thousand  people,  double  the  number 
on  the  Sandwich  Islands  ;  and  the  work  was 
languishing  for  want  of  a  more  vigorous  prose- 
cution. 

In  1868  the  title  of  the  Ningpo  Mission  was 
changed  to  the  Eastern  China  Mission,  to  ex- 
press more  distinctly  the  wide-spreading  work 
which  was  now  breaking  forth  on  every  side, 
and  reaching  more  than  a  hundred  miles  away 
to  new  and  important  centres.  Mr.  Goddard, 
the  son  of  the  lamented  missionary  of  the  same 
name,  also  joined  the  mission  about  this  time  — 
a  new  and  efficient  laborer.  He  found  that  the 
language  of  China,  which  had  been  the  dialect 
of  his  boyhooc>,  after  having  been  disused  for 
many  years,  readily  came  back  to  him  when  he 
began  to  mingle  once  more  with  the  people ;  so 
that  he  was  prepared  for  effective  labor  almost 
from  the  day.  of  his  arrival. 

But  how  little  can  we  foresee  or  interpret  the 
ways  of  Providence  !  Mr.  Goddard  had  scarce- 
ly commenced  his  work,  when  his  young  and 
earnest  wife  was  taken  from  him  by  death,  after 
only  three  months  of  missionary  service.  One 
chapter  in  her  history  is  a  most  interesting  one. 


CHURCH  AT  HANGCHOW.  249 

Mrs.  Goddard  before  her  marriage,  as  a  young 
woman  of  slender  means,  labored  for  a  season 
in  a  cotton-factory  near  Boston.  A  fellow- 
Christian  in  the  same  mill,  who  made  herself 
poor  that  she  might  make  many  rich,  perceiv- 
ing that  her  youthful  friend  had  talent  and  a 
missionary  spirit, — out  of  her  feeble  earnings 
and  through  great  self-denial,  depriving  herself 
even  of  necessary  food  and  clothing,  —  paid 
the  expenses  of  the  education  of  her  younger 
Christian  sister  at  the  best  schools,  and  lived 
long  enough  to  know  that  she  was  prepared  to 
do  effective  work  for  Christ  in  China.  And 
thus  the  poor  spinner,  whose  heart  burned  with 
love  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  though  she  was  perhaps 
never  ten  miles  from  home,  gave  this  young 
missionary  to  a  life  of  toil  for  the  heathen  on 
the  other  side  of  the  globe.  They  both  met 
long  since  before  the  throne  in  heaven  —  the 
sower  and  the  reaper  rejoicing  together.  Mrs. 
Goddard's  term  of  service  was  brief,  but  none 
the  less  accepted  by  Him  who  seeth  not  as  man 
seeth. 

The  work  at  Hangchow  took  form  and  con- 
sistency. In  September  a  church  was  organ- 
ized in  the  city,  and  a  young  man  baptized. 
His  employers  at  once  dismissed  him  for  keep- 
ing the  Sabbath ;  but  another  door  was  opened 
for  his  support.  A  new  out-station  was  also 
commenced  at  Sangbah,  in  connection  with 
Hangchow.  Several  here  were  said  to  be  Sab- 
bath-keepers, and  three  were  baptized.  All  the 
churches  of  the  mission  —  five  in  number, 
with  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  members  — 


25 O    EASTERN  CHINA    OR  NINGPO  MISSION. 

showed  increasing  strength  and  efficiency,  and 
a  disposition  to  provide  themselves  v^ith  chapels 
and  other  conveniences  for  the  worship  of  God. 
The  mission  reported  twelve  stations  and  out- 
stations,  twelve  preaching-places,  eleven  native 
assistants,  five  Bible-women,  and  thirty  converts 
baptized. 

The  station  at  Kinghwa,  encompassed  by 
difficulties,  opposition,  and  persecution,  was 
suspended  in  1868  or  1869,  and  another,  nearer 
Ningpo,  substituted  for  it.  This  new  station, 
Shouhing  or  Zaohying,  is  larger  in  extent  than 
Ningpo,  situated  in  a  vast  plain  full  of  villages, 
intersected  by  canals  in  every  direction,  afford- 
ing access  to  a  great  population.  A  native 
preacher  was  stationed  here,  and  Mr.  Jenkins 
made  occasional  visits  as  he  found  opportunity. 
About  this  time  one  of  the  most  powerful  men 
in  the  empire  memorialized  the  emperor  to 
tolerate  alike  Protestantism,  Romanism,  and 
Buddhism,  calculating,  in  his  godless  indiffer- 
ence, that  they,  would  work  destruction  to  one 
another,  and  thus  an  end  would  come  to  all 
religion.  He  had  not  learned  that  Messiah's 
throne  will  stand  after  all  6ther  kingdoms  are 
overthrown. 

The  openings  were  large^  and  the  promise 
auspicious.  Mr.  Knowlton  wrote,  "  If  we  had  a 
sufficient  number  of  native  preachers,  we  might 
soon  have  chapels  and  native  churches  scat- 
tered throughout  the  Ningpo  plain,  with  its 
three  thousand  villages  and  over  one  million 
inhabitants." 
'  At  the  out-station  of  Sangbah  a  triumph  over 


CHURCH  AT  SANGBAH.  251 

opposition  was  obtained  about  this  time,  the 
magistrates  openly  declaring  that  the  teachers 
of  Christianity  cannot  be  disturbed.  At  Zao- 
hying  baptism  was  administered  for  the  first 
time,  a  mother  and  her  son  being  the  subjects. 
Scores  of  people  witnessed  the  solemn  scene. 
This  furnished  occasion  for  the  organization  of 
a  church.  At  the  Lord's  Supper,  ten  converts 
celebrated  together  the  death  of  Christ.  The 
Eastern  China  Mission  now  presented  a  total  of 
209  members,  sixteen  preaching  stations  and 
seventeen  native  helpers,  including  Bible-read- 
ers, preachers,  colporters,  &c. 

The  mission  began  to  be  crippled  for  want  of 
laborers.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Knowlton  in  impaired 
health  returned  for  a  season  to  their  native 
land ;  Mr.  Kreyer  accepted  a  literary  position 
under  government,  which  prevented  him  from 
yielding  direct  service  any  longer  to  the  mission. 
This  left  the  station  at  Ningpo,  with  its  out- 
stations,  to  the  sole  care  of  Mr.  Goddard.  Mr. 
Jenkins  removed  to  Hangchow,  and  Zaohying 
was  left  for  a  season  in  charge  of  native  assist- 
ants. In  November,  1870,  Mr.  Goddard  was 
married  to  Miss  F.  A.  Dean,  daughter  of  the 
now  venerable  Dr.  Dean,  of  Bangkok,  which 
brought  another  and  well-qualified  laborer  into 
the  field. 

But  there  was  light  in  darkness.  At  King- 
hwa,  where  the  opposers  had  demolished  the 
chapel  in  order  to  drive  away  the  missionary, 
the  chief  magistrate  invited  Mr.  Jenkins  to 
return,  promising  indemnity  for  damages,  and 
posted  proclamations  through  the  city,  warning 


252    EASTERN  CHINA    OR  NINGPO  MISSION. 

the  people  against  molesting  the  missionaries, 
and  calling  upon  the  citizens  to  aid  Mr.  Jenkins 
in  securing  a  site  for  his  chapel  and  a  house  for 
the  assistant.  A  new  church  was  constituted 
this  year  at  Siwu,  with  ten  members. 

The  next  year  saw  the  removal  of  several  of 
the  Chinese  members  by  death,  some  of  them 
the  oldest  of  the  native  Christians.  They  illus- 
trated in  their  death  the  power  of  the  gospel. 
One  interesting  case  occurred  of  an  aged  man 
who  died  at  a  new  out-station,  where  a  chapel 
had  been  opened,  and  this  old  man  received  the 
gospel  with  joy.  But  about  three  months  after 
he  first  heard  the  word  of  God,  and  before  he 
had  an  opportunity  to  make  an  open  profession, 
he  was  called  to  higher  scenes  ;  and  calm  and 
joyful,  even  in  his  last  moments,  he  declared 
before  his  friends  and  neighbors  his  faith  in 
Christ  and  his  hope  of  heaven. 

A  noble  assistant,  an  aged  man,  is  spoken  of 
as  sustaining  the  chapel  at  Kinghwa.  He  ex- 
perienced many  petty  annoyances  and  persecu- 
tions at  the  hands  of  his  heathen  neighbors, 
but  continued  to  sow  the  good  seed  of  the  king- 
dom. He  was  known  as  *'the  stanch  disciple 
of  Jesus,"  and  received  calls  from  men  far  and 
near,  to  whom  he  told  the  story  of  Christ, 
giving  them  a  Testament  or  a  few  tracts. 
"  Neither  threatening  magistrates  nor  a  sneering 
people  were  able  to  quench  the  fire  of  his  zeal. 
Hedged  about  by  trials,  he  stood  firm,  an  honor 
to  the  cause,  and  a  light  shining  clearly  amid 
the  warring  elements.  His  calls  for  help  were 
full  of  feeling." 


DEATH  OF  DR.   KNOWLTON.  253 

In  December,  1872,  the  Chek-kiang  Baptist 
Association,  consisting  of  six  churches,  was 
formed  at  Ningpo,  the  first  Baptist  Association 
in  China.  Twenty-three  delegates  were  present, 
most  of  whom  were  laborers  in  the  mission. 
The  session  continued  two  days  and  a  half,  and 
was  deeply  interesting.  The  delegates  made 
many  important  inquiries  relative  to  their  mis- 
sion-work and  church  polity.  It  was  believed 
that  this  new  step  in  advance  would  be  pro- 
ductive of  great  good.  Total  church-members 
at  this  date,  219 ;  students  for  the  ministry,  six  ; 
Bible-women,  four ;  preachers,  fifteen. 

On  the  lOth  of  September,  1874,  Dr.  Knowl- 
ton  died,  universally  lamented.  He  was  a 
choice  missionary,  an  indefatigable  worker, 
having  his  whole  soul  set  on  the  conversion  of 
the  heathen ;  and  he  had  the  rare  ability  of 
making  others  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Churchill 
joined  the  mission  about  this  date,  putting  on 
the  harness  as  Dr.  Knowlton  was  putting  it  off. 

Mr.  Jenkins  revisited  this  country  in  1873, 
and  returned  to  his  station  in  1875.  Mrs. 
Churchill  died  in  December,  1875,  after  only  a 
little  more  than  a  year  of  missionary  life.  Much 
attention  was  paid  to  the  instruction  of  the 
native  preachers,  and  a  reference  Testament 
prepared  by  Mr.  Jenkins  was  published,  a  use- 
ful help  towards  making  their  addresses  more 
scriptural.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Association, 
the  discussion  of  the  question  of  wine-drinking 
by  Christians  was  very  prominent,  and  a  resolu- 
tion was  passed  recommending  the  members  to 
abstain  from  it. 


254    EASTERN  CHINA    OR  NINGPO  MISSION. 

The  report  of  1877  tells  both  of  hope  a:id 
discouragement.  Many  of  the  disciples  were 
living  epistles,  the  joy  and  crown  of  those  who 
watched  for  their  souls.  The  extent  of  the 
work,  and  the  fewness  of  the  laborers,  were  a 
source  of  perpetual  anxiety.  Under  Dr.  Bar- 
chet,  the  medical  work,  begun  so  vigorously  by 
Dr.  Macgowan  in  1843,  again  assumed  impor- 
tance ;  and  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  it  may 
once  more  prove  an  entering  wedge  for  the  gos- 
pel. Sometimes  as  many  as  sixty  cases  were 
treated  in  a  single  forenoon.  Patients  came 
from  many  parts  of  the  province,  and,  healed  in 
body,  carried  home  with  them  the  words  of  eter- 
nal life.  Mr.  Churchill  established  himself  in 
Hangchow  in  January,  1877;  but  after  a  few 
months  he  was  prostrated  by  sickness,  and 
compelled  to  return  to  Ningpo,  and  finally  to 
the  United  States. 

An  interesting  notice  is  given  of  a  native 
school  in  Ningpo,  taught  by  a  native  teacher. 
Most  of  the  pupils  have  good  abilities,  and 
some  make  astonishing  progress.  They  are  all 
able  to  repeat  the  whole  of  Genesis,  and  the 
whole  Gospel  of  Matthew.  This  is  in  harmony 
with  the  method  of  teaching  in  China,  in  the 
schools  of  the  country,  in  which  the  most  cov- 
eted attainment  is  to  be  able  to  recite  from 
memory  page  after  page  of  the  writings  of  the 
Chinese  classics.  The  teacher,  who  is  a  Chris- 
tian, also  earnestly  sets  the  truth  before  his  pu- 
pils, and  exhorts  them  to  act  according  to  its 
teachings. 

The  followin'g  is  the  present  state  of  the  mis- 


CONCLUDING    THOUGHT,  255 

sion :  missionaries,  eight,  five  male  and  three 
female;  churches,  nine ;  chapels,  23  ;  preachers, 
one  ordained,  20  unordained  ;  church-members, 
307  ;  boys  in  four  schools,  58  ;  girls  in  one 
school,  18;  one  medical  dispensary,  at  which 
last  year  7,500  cases  were  prescribed  for. 

The  history  of  this  mission  gives  an  impres- 
sive view  of  the  extent  of  the  work  to  be  done, 
and  the  inadequacy  of  the  force  hitherto  em- 
ployed to  do  it.  The  work  is  mighty,  but 
mighty  is  He  to  whom  it  belongs,  and  who  is 
pledged  to  its  final  success.  Years  may  pass 
away,  and  still  the  enemy  may  scoff  at  our  puny 
efforts ;  but,  when  the  set  time  is  come,  He 
whose  right  it  is  will  reign  supreme.  And  of 
that  result,  we  have  all  the  assurance  that  can 
be  given  by  the  word  of  Him  who  cannot  lie. 


No.   XVI, 


MISSION   TO  JAPAN. 

Origin  of  the  Mission.  —  Geography  and  History  of  Japan.  —  Begin- 
ning of  the  Work,  —  The  Mission  re-enforced.  —  The  Work  advan- 
cing. —  Prosperity  and  Trial.  —  Female  Helpers.  —  Interesting  Can- 
didates. —  Death  of  Mr.  Arthur.  —  The  Work  accomplished.  — 
Present  State  of  the  Mission. 

THE  organization  called  "The  American 
Baptist  Free  Mission  Society,"  moved  by 
a  desire  to  embrace  the  auspicious  opening  for 
evangelization  in  Japan,  established  the  earliest 
Baptist  missionary  station  in  that  country. 
After  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States,  finding  no  occasion  for  maintaining 
separate  efforts  in  the  field  of  Christian  activity, 
the  members  of  that  Society  offered  the  mission 
they  had  commenced  to  the  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union,  at  the  annual  meeting  held 
in  New  York  in  May,  1872.  At  that  meeting 
Mr.  Goble,  who  had  labored  in  the  mission,  gave 
an  account  of  the  favorable  prospects  for  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel  in  that  remarkable 
empire.  Dr.  Nathan  Brown,  formerly  a  useful 
missionary  of  the  Union  in  Assam,  who  after 
several  years'  residence  in  America  was  now 
under  appointment  by  the  Free  Mission  Society 

2i;6 


GEOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN.  257 

as  a  missionary  to  Japan,  was  cordially  wel- 
comed to  co-operation  with  the  Missionary 
Union,  and  spoke  words  of  rejoicing  over  the 
fact  that  the  land  which  for  three  centuries  had 
trampled  on  the  cross  was  now  open  to  the  gos- 
pel. A  resolution'  was  passed,  pledging  the 
support  of  the  Union,  should  the  Board  of  Man- 
agers deem  it  advisable  to  accept  the  mission  to 
Japan  and  to  re-enforce  it  with  additional  labor- 
ers. In  accordance  with  this  resolution  the 
Board  voted,  May  23,  1872,  to  accept  and  re- 
enforce  the  mission  to  Japan. 

The  mission  in  Japan  is  the  latest  enterprise 
undertaken  by  the  Missionary  Union  on  the 
continent  of  Asia.  Japan  is  a  kingdom  of 
islands,  numbering  in  all  nearly  four  thousand. 
Four  of  them  are  much  larger  than  the  rest, 
and  are  supposed  by  many  to  contain  as  large 
a  population  as  the  United  States  of  America. 
The  islands  are  situated  east  of  the  northern 
half  of  China,  and  extend  from  30°  to  50°  north 
latitude.  The  country  is  hilly,  but  not  moun- 
tainous, and  abounds  in  fertile  valleys  and  mag- 
nificent harbors.  The  history  of  the  govern- 
ment goes  back  to  a  period  six  hundred  years 
before  the  Christian  era  :  its  founder  lived  in 
the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Roman-Catholi- 
cism was  introduced  into  the  empire  in  1549, 
but  was  afterwards  suppressed ;  and  for  three 
centuries  the  government  resisted  the  approach 
of  all  foreigners.  So  great  was  the  national 
hatred  of  the  Christian  religion  as  represented 
by  the  Catholics,  that  for  man}  years  the 
figure  of  a  cross  was  laid  down  upon  the  shore, 


2S8  MISSION  TO  JAPAN. 

and  every  person  landing  was  compelled  to 
trample  underfoot  this  symbol  of  Christianity. 
In  1853  an  American  fleet  entered  the  har- 
bor of  Yeddo,  a  treaty  of  peace  and  commerce 
was  agreed  upon  between  the  United  States 
and  Japan,  and  treaties  were  made  also  with 
various  other  powers. 

Since  this  change,  a  flood  of  Hght  has  been 
pouring  upon  Japan,  which  the  intelligent 
people  seem  inclined,  in  all  secular  matters, 
to  make  the  most  of.  Railroads  have  been 
constructed ;  and  light-houses,  custom-houses, 
banks,  and  schoolhouses  have  been  erected  in 
great  numbers.  An  army  and  navy  have  been 
organized,  and  a  postal  system  established 
much  like  our  own  ;  also  a  graded  school-sys- 
tem inaugurated,  from  universities  to  primary 
schools,  with  some  of  the  most  accomplished 
literary  men  of  Europe  for  professors.  They 
have  a  native  press,  translating  our  best  books  ; 
and  newspapers  are  circulating  freely  through 
the  country. 

Dr.  Nathan  Brown  and  wife  and  Rev.  Jona- 
than Goble  and  wife  arrived  in  Yokohama  in 
February,  1873.  Hitherto,  notwithstanding  the 
previous  labors  of  Mr.  Goble,  there  were  no  dis- 
ciples, no  chapels,  and  no  residences  for  mis- 
sionaries, so  that  the  work  of  the  Union  was 
substantially  the  establishment  of  a  new  mis- 
sion. Dr.  Brown,  in  his  first  letter  from  the 
country,  wrote  thus  :  — 

"The  edict  against  Christianity  was  formally  abro- 
gated a  few  days  ago  by  imperial  proclamation.  The  cal- 
endar has   been  changed  to  correspond  with  European 


THE  MISSION  RE-ENFORCED.  259 

reckoning,  beginning  the  year  with  January.  The  old 
holidays  are  set  aside,  and  Sunday  established  as  the 
legal  holiday,  under  the  title  '  Day  of  Light '  or  '  Sun's 
Day ; '  while  the  other  days  bear  the  names  of  the  sev- 
eral planets,  as  ours  do.  Christmas  is  made  a  holiday. 
.  .  .  The  wheel  of  God's  providence  is  thus  rolling 
on  with  a  power  never  seen  in  any  other  country ;  and  it 
becomes  us  to  seize  the  opportunity  for  enlarging  our 
missionary  operations,  before  it  passes  away  forever." 

In  1873  the  connection  of  Mr.  Goble  with 
the  Union  as  a  missionary  was  closed.  Rev. 
James  H.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  joined  the  mission 
in  October,  1873.  Mr.  Arthur  found  numbers 
of  young  natives  who  could  read  and  understand 
English ;  and,  while  pursuing  the  study  of  the 
language,  he  gathered  a  class  of  these  students 
of  English,  who  were  a  help  to  him  in  one  lan- 
guage, while  he  was  a  help  to  them  in  the  other. 
The  New  Testament  was  the  basis  of  instruc- 
tion, and  the  young  men  of  ingenuous  minds 
seemed  to  appreciate  and  delight  in  the  instruc- 
tions received.  They  had  abandoned  the  gods 
of  their  fathers,  and  were  willing  to  listen  to 
the  truths  of  the  gospel.  Dr.  Brown  had 
already  commenced  a  preaching-service  at  his 
house  on  the  Sabbath,  and  Mrs.  Brown  opened 
a  school  for  native  young  women  with  encour- 
aging prospects. 

Another  missionary  was  added  in  1873  to  the 
working  forces.  Mr.  James  T.  Doyen  went  to 
China  in  1859  with  an  Episcopal  clergyman, 
and  took  charge  of  a  boys*  school  in  Shanghai. 
Two  years  afterwards  the  school  was  discon- 
tinued ;  but  he  was  still  employed  in  teaching  in 
China  and  Japan,  independent  of  any  mission- 


26o  MISSION  TO  JAPAN. 

ary  Board.  He  joined  the  Baptist  church  in 
Yokohama,  then  just  organized,  and  was  or- 
dained to  the  work  of  the  ministry  by  our  own 
missionaries  Sept.  7,  1873,  and  the  following 
month  appointed  a  missionary  of  the  Union. 
He  took  up  his  fesidence  with  a  Japanese 
family,  where  he  had  opportunity  to  tell  the 
story  of  the  cross,  and  his  labor  was  apparently 
not  in  vain.  His  aim  was  as  soon  as  possible 
to  reach  the  capital,  now  Tokio,  to  preach  the 
gospel  in  high  places  as  well  as  among  the 
lowly.  He  reported  that  the  missionaries  were 
permitted  to  preach  at  the  open  ports,  but  not 
to  penetrate  into  the  interior. 

The  mission  church  at  Yokohama  was  organ- 
ized in  1873,  consisting  of  eight  members,  five 
of  whom  belonged  to  the  mission  families.  The 
following  year,  the  government  granted  per- 
mission to  the  Japanese  people  to  hire  foreign 
teachers.  It  was  understood  that  this  measure 
would  secure  to  missionaries  the  privilege,  both 
in  the  cities  and  in  the  country,  of  living  out- 
side of  the  treaty  limits.  Hence  the  mission- 
aries in  Japan  began  at  once  to  prepare  for  the 
enlargement  of  their  operations.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Arthur  set  themselves  to  look  for  a  home  in  the 
midst  of  the  native  population.  The  late  repre- 
sentative of  Japan  at  Washington  invited  them 
to  take  up  their  residence  at  Tokio,  which  from 
that  time  (June,  1874)  they  made  their. home, 
giving  to  the  work  the  freshness  and  strength 
of  their  labors,  their  interest,  and  their  prayers ; 
and  here  they  set  themselves  to  the  task  of  pre- 
paring jewels  for  the  crown  of  Immanuel.     At 


THE    WORK  ADVANCING.  26 1 

the  same  date  Mr.  Doyen  removed  to  Tokio,  at 
the  suggestion  of  several  Buddhist  priests,  who 
offered  him  quarters  in  one  of  their  temples, 
and  expressed  their  wish  to  hear  about  Chris- 
tianity. He  was  accompanied  by  a  recent  con- 
vert to  the  gospel,  who  understood  English  and 
Chinese,  and  acted  as  interpreter.  The  im- 
pression evidently  was  gaining  ground  in  Japan, 
that  Christianity  would  ere  long  become  the 
religion  of  the  people.  The  preceding  year,  the 
officer  at  the  head  of  the  educational  depart- 
ment was  a  violent  opposer  of  missionaries,  and 
gave  orders  that  no  clergyman  should  be  em- 
ployed in  any  government  school  or  college. 
The  next  year  he  was  set  aside,  and  his  place 
filled  by  a  Christian,  a  young  student  who  had 
been  hopefully  converted  in  America.  This 
was  a  decided  triumph  in  favor  of  the  gospel. 

Mr.  Doyen  remained  at  his  post  in  one  of  the 
great  religious  centres  of  the  city,  and  one  of 
the  best  locations  for  a  mission-station,  until 
near  the  close  of  the  year,  when  the  failure  of 
his  sight  compelled  him  to  relinquish  his  work. 
Mr.  Arthur  was  able  to  rent  a  new  building  in 
a  part  of  Tokio  which  was  accessible  to  large 
numbers  of  the  people,  centrally  located,  and 
well  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  the  mission. 
Thus  a  foothold  was  gained  at  the  capital,  and 
the  work  was  auspiciously  begun.  With  the 
blessing  of  God,  there  was  reason  to  anticipate 
that  the  seed  sown  would  from  this  time  bring 
forth  fruit  unto  eternal  life. 

At  the  'other  and  older  station,  Yokohama, 
a  chapel  was  completed,  a  congregation  of  about 


262  MISSION  TO  JAPAN. 

thirty  hearers  was  gathered,  and  a  school 
opened  with  encouraging  prospects.  Surely 
the  God  of  missions  will  guard  the  feeble  be- 
ginnings of  the  work,  and  protect  the  house  set 
apart  for  the  honor  of  his  name,  and  where 
souls  are  to  be  directed  to  him  !  But  God  seeth 
not  as  man  seeth.  In  February,  1875,  the 
chapel  was  burned  to  the  ground.  But  the 
spiritual  results,  it  is  hoped,  are  such  as  no 
flames  can  consume,  nor  the  floods  drown.  Two 
converted  natives  were  added  to  the  church,  one 
of  them  the  interpreter  before  spoken  of.  A 
Scripture  Manual  for  the  use  of  schools  was 
prepared  in  Japanese  by  Dr.  Brown,  and  high- 
ly commended  by  those  competent  to  judge. 
The  Parables  of  Christ,  in  Japanese,  were  also 
put  in  circulation. 

Later  in  1875,  Misses  Clara  A.  Sands  and  A. 
H.  Kidder  joined  the  mission,  the  former  going 
to  Yokohama,  and  the  latter  to  Tokio.  The 
progress  of  the  work  was  highly  encouraging. 
The  truth  took  hold  of  the  minds  of  the  people ; 
and  one  by  one  they  came  to  submit  themselves 
to  Christ,  trusting  in  him  as  the  only  deliverer. 
In  Yokohama  the  preaching-service  in  the 
chapel  on  the  Sabbath  was  attended  by  about 
thirty  hearers  ;  and  seven  were  baptized  during 
the  year,  of  whom  five  were  Japanese  and  two 
foreigners.  Dr.  Brown,  the  laborious  and  skil- 
ful translator,  had  made  much  progress  in  pre- 
paring Christian  literature  in  the  language  of 
the  people.  Matthew  and  Mark  were  in  circu- 
lation ;  Luke  was  ready  for  the  press  ;  the  Par- 
ables, the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  Scripture 


PROSPERITY  AND    TRIAL.  263 

Manual,  and  History  of  Creation,  had  also  been 
issued  from  the  press,  beside  hymns.  Sabbath- 
school  cards,  &c.  In  Tokio  the  first  baptism 
was  administered  in  October,  1875  ;  the  candi- 
date being  a  woman,  who  was  received  after 
careful  examination,  and  gave  good  evidence 
that  she  was  a  new  creature  in  Christ. 

The  next  year  Rev.  Frank  S.  Dobbins  and 
wife  joined  the  mission,  and  were  stationed  at 
Yokohama.  But,  on  account  of  the  illness  of 
the  latter,  they  were  soon  obliged  to  return  to 
the  United  States ;  and,  there  being  no  pros- 
pect of  her  being  able  to  live  in  Japan,  after  a 
little  more  than  one  year  their  connection  with 
the  mission  was  closed.  Thus  the  bright  pros- 
pects with  which  they  entered  on  the  work  were 
so  soon  overclouded ;  and  the  Lord,  having  ac- 
cepted the  service  they  designed  to  render  to 
him  among  the  heathen,  appointed  them  to 
other  spheres  of  usefulness. 

This  year  there  were  more  accessions  to  the 
church  of  Yokohama  than  in  any  previous  one. 
A  native  preacher  was  an  efficient  helper.  A 
daily  Bible-class  of  seven  members,  and  a  Sab- 
bath school  with  an  average  attendance  of  fif- 
teen scholars,  were  among  the  instrumentalities 
employed ;  the  issues  from  the  press,  including 
Scripture  portions,  amounted  to  nearly  half  a 
million  pages.  Eight  were  baptized,  and  the 
church  had  a  total  of  twenty-two  members. 
The  church  at  Tokio  numbered  twenty  mem- 
bers, and  in  1876  sixteen  were  baptized.  Four 
of  them,  all  women,  were  gathered  into  the 
church    in    November.     Until    within    a   very 


264  MISSION   TO  JAPAN. 

short  time,  they  had  been  devout  worshippers 
of  idols.  One  of  them,  a  woman  of  strong, 
rugged  character,  brought  to  the  mission- house, 
the  evening  before  her  baptism,  a  great  armful 
of  all  sorts  of  idols,  as  a  proof  of  her  sincerity. 
When  she  told  her  experience  to  the  church, 
she  said  she  had  worshipped  the  fox,  the  snake, 
and  the  badger,  as  well  as  the  idols ;  and  when 
she  went  to  her  house,  and  saw  the  things  she 
had  worshipped,  she  was  so  ashamed,  even  if  no 
one  was  present,  that  she  hardly  knew  what  to 
do.  She  had  torn  down  the  "  god-shelf,"  which 
is  in  every  Japanese  house,  had  torn  to  pieces 
or  otherwise  destroyed  many  of  her  idols,  and 
brousfht  the  rest  to  those  who  had  led  her  to 
Christ. 

Another  of  the  candidates  was  an  aged  woman 
of  eighty  years,  —  a  lifelong  idolater,  —  but  at 
her  great  age  strong  and  well,  and  rejoicing  in 
'the  privilege  of  putting  on  Christ  by  baptism 
in  the  presence  of  many  witnesses.  A  third,  a 
servant  woman  of  middle  age,  also  brought  her 
idols  to  the  mission-house  before  her  baptism, 
as  a  testimony  that  she  should  no  more  trust  in 
them. 

The  experience  of  the  fourth  was  very  inter- 
esting. Her  husband,  who  is  also  ,a  disciple, 
had  occasion  to  go  to  a  distant  province  on 
business,  and  bought  up  all  the  Christian  books 
within  his  reach  to  take  with  him.  After  his 
departure,  his.wife,  who  had  hitherto  worshipped 
idols,  began  to  study  the  Bible,  and  to  attend 
the  preaching  of  the  Word.  A  Bible-woman 
frequently  visited  and  conversed  with  her.     At 


DEATH  OF  MR.   ARTHUR,  265 

length,  one  day  she  said,  "Although  at  first  I 
neither  bcHeved  nor  understood  the  gospel,  the 
wonderful  story  of  the  cross  at  last  reached  my 
heart,  and  I  believed,  and  have  put  my  idols 
into  the  fire."  A  missionary  writes,  in  view  of 
such  cases  :  "  One  by  one  the  weary  and  heavy- 
laden  ones  of  Japan  are  coming  to  Christ,  and 
finding  rest." 

But  with  progress  and  prosperity  came  also 
trial.  The  young  and  energetic  missionary,  Mr. 
Arthur,  was  compelled  by  declining  health  to 
leave  his  post,  and  return  to  this  country.  He 
reached  California,  where  he  lingered  for  a  little 
while;  and  on  the  9th  of  December,  1877,  at 
Oakland,  Cal.,  he  passed  to  his  reward  in  the 
prime  of  life,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five,  just  four 
years  from  the  date  of  his  leaving  his  native 
country.  He  was  a  man  of  deep  earnestness  of 
spirit,  full  of  missionary  zeal,  industrious  and 
faithful ;  and,  had  his  life  been  spared,  he  bade 
fair  to  accomplish,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  a 
large  work  in  the  Japanese  Mission.  He  left 
the  church  at  Tokio  with  twenty  members,  and 
with  manifest  indications  of  larger  success. 
On  a  lovely  day  in  the  early  spring  of  1878  his 
remains,  brought  back  to  sleep  among  his  kin- 
dred, were  laid  to  their  last  repose  in  the  ceme- 
tery of  Newton,  Mass.,  where  he  had  pursued 
his  theological  studies,  not  far  from  the  spot 
where  the  beloved  missionary  to  the  Karens, 
Mr.  Thomas,  also  rests  in  hope.  They  will  rise 
within  sight  of  each  other  on  the  resurrection 
morning,  —  one  rejoicing  over  the  converts 
gathered  by  years  of  labor;  the  other  having 


266  MISSION  TO  JAPAN. 

been  called  to  put  off  the  harness  almost  as 
soon  as  he  had  girded  it  on.  But  the  work  of 
the  one,  and  the  willingness  of  the  other,  will 
be  alike  acknowledged  and  accepted  by  the 
Master. 

Miss  Kidder  was  left  at  Tokio  with  a  native 
preacher,  to  whom  was  committed  the  task  of 
caring  for  the  church  thus  bereft  of  its  mission- 
ary. At  the  last  accounts  there  were  several 
candidates  for  baptism ;  and  all  that  seemed 
needed,  besides  the  blessing  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
was  more  laborers  fitted  to  carry  on  the  work 
so  auspiciously  begun.  Days  of  darkness  and 
trial,  persecution,  opposition,  and  bereavement, 
have  often  marked  the  early  period  of  mission- 
ary enterprise.  Perhaps  it  is  the  order  of  God's 
providence,  that  success  must  come  through 
suffering.  Two  young  men  were  baptized  by 
Dr.  Brown  at  Tokio  on  the  9th  of  December ; 
by  a  striking  coincidence,  the  very  day  that  Mr. 
Arthur  passed  through  the  dark  river  to  *'  the 
bright  beyond," — a  new  sheaf  gathered  the 
same  day  into  the  church  on  earth,  bereft  of  its 
pastor,  and  a  new  sheaf,  glorified,  into  the  gar- 
ner in  heaven.  Others  desired  baptism  on  the 
same  occasion,  but  the  ordinance  was  delayed. 

Within  three  years  the  Japanese  Mission 
printed  more  than  a  million  pages  of  Scripture, 
including  the  first  three  Gospels,  and  portions 
of  the  Old  Testament.  The  first  Gospel  ever 
printed  in  Japan  was  issued  by  the  Baptist 
Mission.  Thirteen  of  the  Epistles  of  Paul  and 
the  General  Epistles  have  also  been  translated 
by  our  own   missionaries  in  advance  of   other 


THE    WORK  ACCOMPLISHED.  267 

translators.  A  church  catechism  of  forty-eight 
pages,  by  the  late  Mr.  Arthur,  of  which  one 
thousand  copies  were  printed,  remains,  a  memo- 
rial of  that  lamented  missionary ;  and  by  it  he, 
being  dead,  yet  speaketh. 

Twenty-eight  w-ere  baptized  at  Tokio  and 
Yokohama  during  the  year  1878.  An  appoint- 
ment was  made  at  Tokio  to  baptize  six  candi- 
dates, five  of  them  females,  and  three  married 
women,  on  the  i6th  of  June  last.  The  day 
proved  to  be  very  rainy,  and  the  place  of  bap- 
tism was  two  miles  distant ;  but  such  was  the 
zeal  of  the  converts,  that  they  were  unwilling  to 
defer  the  ordinance,  and  it  was  accordingly 
performed.  The  church  at  Yokohama  have 
received  a  handsome  communion-service,  the 
gift  of  the  Shawmut-avenue  church  in  Boston. 
Dr.  Brown  is  pressing  forward  his  translation 
of  the  New  Testament  in  Japanese. 

The  last  convert  baptized  at  Yokohama  was 
a  man  of  wealth  and  influence,  belonging  to 
the  province  of  Shin  Shu.  Some  two  years 
ago  he  heard  that  the  Christian  religion  was 
being  preached  at  Niigata  by  a  Dr.  Palm,  and 
started  off  to  learn  what  it  was.  On  his  way 
he  fell  in  with  a  relative,  who  told  him  it  was 
nothing  but  the  old  Catholic  religion  formerly 
preached  at  Nagasaki.  Discouraged  at  this,  he 
turned  about,  and  went  home.  This  year  he 
was  taken  sick,  and  came  to  Yokohama  to  put 
himself  in  charge  of  an  old  friend,  a  physician, 
who,  he  was  surprised  to  find,  had  become  a 
member  of  the  church.  His  interest  was  now 
excited  anew ;   and  during  the   time   he   staid 


268  MISSION  TO  JAPAN, 

here,  several  months,  he  applied  himself  unre- 
mittingly to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
physician  was  as  earnest  in  his  labors  for  his 
soul  as  for  his  body,  and  with  one  or  two  other 
members  spent  much  time  with  him  in  prayer, 
on  one  occasion  going  out  with  him  into  the 
country,  and  spending  the  whole  day  in  prayer 
for  his  conversion.  He  was  at  length  brought 
fully  into  the  light,  and  now  considers  that  his 
sickness  and  coming  to  Yokohama  were  spe- 
cially ordered  by  Providence  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  him  within  the  sound  of  the  gospel. 
He  has  now  returned  to  his  country,  taking 
with  him  a  large  quantity  of  Scriptures  for  dis- 
tribution. 

One  missionary.  Dr.  Brown,  with  his  wife  and 
Miss  Sands,  are  at  Yokohama,  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Rhees  and  Miss  Kidder  at  Tokio.  There 
is  a  church  and  a  school  at  each  of  the  stations, 
and  three  unordained  native  preachers.  The 
church  at  Yokohama  numbers  thirty  members, 
and  that  at  Tokio  thirty-seven.  Last  year  four 
were  baptized  at  the  former,  and  five  at  the 
latter.  Two  young  girls  in  Miss  Kidder's 
school  became  Christians  last  year,  one  of 
whom  was  baptized.  A  heathen  woman  near 
the  city  opens  her  house  for  meetings  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  capital  two  Sabbath  evenings  in 
the  month,  and  there  are  some  attentive  listen- 
ers. Her  reason  for  her  course  is  that  she 
wants  to  know  what  this  new  religion  is.  A 
baptism  occurred  at  Tokio  each  communion 
Sabbath  for  three  months  last  spring,  and  the 
disciples  are  evidently  growing  in  grace.     The 


CONCLUDING    THOUGHTS.  269 

attendance  on  the  services  of  the  Sabbath  re- 
cently has  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
was  necessary  to  enlarge  the  chapel  by  taking 
in  the  veranda ;  and  again  it  overflows.  A 
native  assistant  some  months  since  made  a 
preaching-tour  among  the  villages  near  Tokio ; 
and  he  received  a  letter  recently  from  the  gov- 
ernor of  one  town,  asking  him  to  come  again, 
and  "  tell  the  people  more  about  Jesus'  religion." 
The  remarkable  change  that  has  taken  place 
in  Japan,  the  sudden  stir  of  life  that  seems  to 
have  pervaded  the  entire  nation,  is  full  of  prom- 
ise. If  the  people  of  God  understand  the  signs 
of  the  times,  and  enter  with  vigor  into  this 
broad  harvest-field,  there  is  hope  that  their  new 
civilization  will  be  a  Christian  civilization,  and 
that  they  will  be  a  people  consecrated  to  Christ, 
dedicating  their  new-born  energies  to  the  salva- 
of  the  world.  How  great  the  responsibility  of 
such  a  period !  May  the  churches  of  these 
United  States  prove  themselves,  through  grace, 
equal  to  the  emergency. 


\ 


No.   XVII. 

MISSION   TO   AFRICA. 

First  Efforts  in  West  Africa.  — The  First  Church  in  Africa. —  The 
First  Missionary.  —  Death  of  Mr.  Holton.  —  Death  of  Lott  Gary. 

—  Mr.  Skinner  joins  the  Mission,  and  dies.  —  The  Mission  re- 
enforced.  —  Station  at  Bassa  Cove.  —  Reflections  suggested.  —  The 
Bassa  Language  reduced  to  Writing.  —  Progress.  —  Re-enforce- 
ment. —  Death.  —  Return  and  Death  of  Mr.  Crocker.  —  New 
Station  at  Bexley.  —  Death  of  Mr.  Clarke.  —  Re-enforcements.  — 
The  Mission  suspended.  —  After  the  War.  —  The  Work  resumed. 

—  Visit  of  Robert  Hill.  —  His  Death.  —  A  New  Mode  of  Proced- 
ure. —  School  of  Preachers.  —  Working  in  Uncertamty.  —  Favor- 
able Omens.  —  Conversion  of  Bassas.  —  Uncertainty  and  Prog- 
ress. —  Interruption.  —  Death  of  Mr.  Vonbrun.  —  Concluding 
Thoughts. 

COON  after  the  organization  of  the  Baptist 
*^  General  Convention  in  1814,  the  colored 
people  of  Richmond,  being  naturally  interested 
in  sending  the  gospel  to  people  of  their  own 
race,  formed  an  "African  Baptist  Missionary- 
Society."  An  article  in  their  Constitution  re- 
stricted the  appropriation  of  their  funds  to  mis- 
sions in  Africa.  Their  gatherings  in  five  years 
reached  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  dollars. 
Two  members  of  the  First  Baptist  church  in 
Richmond,  Lott  Cary,  a  faithful  and  trusted 
assistant  in  the  business  of  a  large  warehouse 
in  that  city,  and  Colin  Teague,  —  both  colored 
men,  —  determined  to  go  to  Africa;  and  the 
270 


THE  FIRST  MISSIONARY.  271 

whole  of  the  funds  were  appropriated  to  their 
use.  They  received  their  appointment  from  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  and  were  en- 
joined to  promote  the  missionary  work  in  Africa, 
without  pay,  as  far  as  their  other  engagements 
would  permit. 

In  1820  they  were  recognized  by  the  Board 
of  the  Baptist  General  Convention  as  their 
missionaries,  and  three  hundred  dollars  appro- 
priated to  their  use.  No  other  appropriation 
was  made  to  the  mission  in  Africa  beyond  that 
which  was  supplied  by  the  Society  in  Richmond, 
until  November,  1825,  when  the  committee  in 
Boston  appropriated  two  hundred  dollars  to 
the  Rev.  Calvin  Holton.  The  station  at  Cape 
Mesurado  was  established  in  1821,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  American  Colonization  Society ; 
and  Messrs.  Cary  and  Teague  were  at  the  sta- 
tion from  its  commencement. 

The  first  Baptist  church  in  Africa  connected 
with  the  mission  was  organized  in  Richmond  in 
1 82 1,  composed  of  seven  members;  and  Lott 
Cary  was  appointed  pastor.  The  church  en- 
joyed a  revival  of  religion,  and  in  1826  num- 
bered from  sixty  to  eighty  members. 

In  1825  Rev.  Calvin  Holton,  a  native  of  Bev- 
erly, Mass.,  and  graduate  of  Waterville  College, 
offered  his  services  to  the  Colonization  Society, 
to  be  employed  as  a  missionary  in  Liberia.  The 
Baptist  Board  took  measures  to  secure  a  portion 
of  his  time  as  their  missionary.  He  was  or- 
dained at  Beverly,  Nov.  30,  1825,  and  sailed 
from  Boston  Feb.  4,  1826.  He  was  instructed 
to  ascertain  the  condition  of  the  natives  in  the 


2  72  MISSION  TO  AFRICA. 

vicinity  of  the  colony,  with  the  view  of  estab- 
lishing a  permanent  missionary  station.  The 
vessel  in  which  he  sailed  carried  out  forty  col- 
ored persons  to  re-enforce  the  colony  of  Liberia. 
Edina  was  selected  as  the  station.  A  meeting- 
house had  been  dedicated  in  October,  1825,  four 
weeks  from  the  time  it  was  raised.  A  Sabbath 
school  had  existed  for  some  time ;  and  a  day- 
school  was  begun  April  18,  1825,  with  twenty- 
one  scholars. 

But  the  labors  of  Mr.  Holton  were  of  brief 
duration.  He  was  quickly  seized  with  the  terri- 
ble African  fever,  and  died  July  23,  1826,  —  the 
first  sacrifice  to  the  missionary  cause  on  the 
continent  of  Africa  in  the  employ  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Union,  —  after  a  service  of  about  three 
months  and  a  half. 

In  1828  the  school  at  Cape  Mount  was  discon- 
tinued, and  a  school  was  established  at  Monro- 
via, four  miles  distant,  in  its  stead.  About  this 
time  the  colonists  organized  a  Missionary  Socie- 
ty, and  contributed  fifty  dollars  for  missionary 
work.  The  colonists  of  Liberia  were  more  or 
less  active  in  efforts  to  put  an  end  to  the  slave- 
trade,  and  to  prevent  slave-ships  of  different 
nations  from  visiting  the  waters  of  Western 
Africa.  Sometimes  they  were  involved  in  sharp 
and  dangerous  engagements,  requiring  no  little 
bravery  and  military  skill.  In  one  of  those  en- 
gagements, in  1829,  Mr.  Lott  Gary  was  slain 
while  defending  a  fort.  He  had  been  pastor  at 
Monrovia  about  five  years,  and  his  death  was  a 
severe  blow  to  the  little  band. 

The   mission   now   numbered   two    ordained 


THE  MISSION  RE-ENFORCED,  273 

preachers,  besides  exhorters,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred church-members.  In  1830  there  were  one 
hundred  and  fifty  members,  scattered- in  four  or 
more  different  towns,  —  one  of  them,  Carytown, 
being  a  settlement  of  recaptured  Africans. 

About  this  time  .another  missionary  was  sent 
from  this  country,  —  Mr.  Benjamin  Rush  Skin- 
nci",  born  at  KilHngworth,  Conn.  He  studied 
at  Hamilton  Literary  and  Theological  Institu- 
tion, now  Madison  University,  —  that  mother 
of  missionaries,  —  was  ordained  Nov.  19,  1827, 
sailed  from  Norfolk,  Va.,  Oct.  12,  1830,  and  ar- 
rived in  Monrovia  Dec.  4.  In  three  months  he 
was  no  more.  Compelled  to  flee  from  the  deadly 
climate,  he  embarked  for  home ;  but  quickly 
after  died,  and  was  buried  at  sea,  March  5,  1831. 
His  young  wife  preceded  him  by  about  six 
weeks,  and  her  remains  rest  in  Monrovia,  —  two 
more  freewill  offerings  to  African  evangeliza- 
tion. God  undoubtedly  accepted  their  service, 
because  it  was  in  their  hearts  to  build  up  his 
kingdom  among  the  heathen. 

A  church  edifice  was  built  at  Carytown  in 
1831,  and  in  Monrovia  in  1832.  In  1834 
churches  were  organized  in  Millsburg  and  Edi- 
na,  and  another  colored  man,  Hilary  Teague, 
was  ordained  to  the  ministry. 

In  1835  two  more  missionaries  were  sent  to 
the  work,  —  Rev.  William  Mylne,  born  in  Scot- 
land, appointed  Dec.  15,  1834;  and  Rev.  William 
G.  Crocker,  born  in  Newburyport,  Mass.,  a 
graduate  of  Newton  Theological  Institution. 
Mr.  Mylne  was  compelled  to  return  home  in 
broken  health  in  about  three  years,  and  resigned 


2  74  MISSION  TO  AFRICA. 

his  office  as  a  missionary.  Mrs.  Mylne  died  of 
fever  in  Liberia,  a  few  days  after  reaching  the 
shores  of  Africa, — another  young  Hfe  sacrificed 
on  the  altar  of  missions. 

In  1835  ^  ^^w  station  was  commenced  at 
Bassa  Cove.  Rev.  A.  W.  Anderson,  formerly 
missionary  of  the  Liberia  Missionary  Society, 
was  ordained  Aug.  i,  1835,  and  entered  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Union  the  same  year ;  but  after  two 
years  resigned.  He  was  stationed  at  Caldwell, 
where  Mrs.  Anderson  died  in  December  of  the 
same  year.  A  church  was  formed  there,  and 
the  first  African  Association  was  organized  in 
1835,  numbering  five  churches.  A  meeting- 
house was  dedicated  in  Bassa  Cove,  July  3,  1836. 

The  mission  had  now  existed  about  sixteen 
years,  and  had  made  very  little,  if  any,  impres- 
sion on  the  native  population.  The  Christians 
connected  with  the  several  churches  were  main- 
ly emigrants  from  the  United  States,  who  had 
enjoyed  more  or  less  of  the  privileges  of  the 
gospel  in  the  days  of  their  bondage.  There  is 
no  record  thus  far  of  the  conversion  of  a  single 
idolater.  Valuable  lives  had  been  sacrificed  to 
the  deadly  climate,  and  very  little  seemed  to 
have  been  accomplished.  Human  reason  might 
well  inquire,  "To  what  purpose  is  this  waste.-*" 
The  only  question  settled  at  such  expense  was, 
Can  Western  Africa  be  evangelized  by  white 
missionaries }  and  the  question  was  painfully, 
but  emphatically,  answered  in  the  negative. 

Still  the  Missionary  Board  labored  on.  Mr. 
Crocker  reduced  the  Bassa  language  to  writ- 
ing, that   the   people  might  read  in  their  own 


PROGRESS.  —  RE-ENFORCEMENT,         2  75 

tongue  the  wonderful  works  of  God.  He  pre- 
pared a  Bassa  vocabulary  and  spelling-book 
The  gospel  under  his  efforts  began  to  take 
effect.  In  1836  sixteen  were  baptized  at  Bassa 
Cove.  In  1837  a  mission-house  was  erected  at 
Edina.  The  same  year  Rev.  Ivory  Clarke,  a 
native  of  Maine,  and  graduate  of  Waterville 
College  and  Newton  Theological  Institution, 
joined  the  mission.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
humility  and  fervent  piety,  gifted  neither  with 
commanding  presence  nor  brilliant  intellectual 
powers ;  but  devout,  patient,  self-forgetting 
and  self-distrusting,  persevering,  decided.  He 
had  the  qualities  which  God  often  makes  mighty 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  it  was 
his  lot  to  labor  longer  in  this  forbidding  field 
than  any  other  either  before  or  after  him.  A 
new  station  was  now  opened,  called  Madebli. 
The  church  of  Edina  in  1839  had  forty-four 
members  and  a  colored  pastor,  Mr.  Day,  who 
removed  in  1840  to  Bexley. 

The  work  was  now  pushed  forward  with  more 
vigor.  A  printing-press  was  sent  from  this 
country  to  Liberia,  in  August,  1840;  and  a 
printer,  J.  C.  Minor,  commenced  operations  in 
June,  1842.  Two  more  missionaries,  Messrs. 
Fielding  and  Constantine,  with  the  wife  of  the 
latter,  arrived  in  Edina,  and  set  out  for  the  in- 
terior in  December,  1840,  hoping  to  avoid  the 
fatal  fever  of  the  coast,  and  to  find  a  more  salu- 
brious climate  where  they  could  make  known 
to  the  native  idolaters  the  way  of  life.  The 
Bassa  spelling-book  and  ten  hymns  in  Bassa 
were   ready  to   be   printed.     But  sickness  and 


276  MISSION  TO  AFRICA. 

death  still  kept  on  the  track  of  these  servants 
of  God.  The  first  Mrs.  Crocker,  formerly  Mrs. 
Rizpah  Warren,  of  Boston,  died  in  August 
1840,  after  a  service  of  just  one  year.  Mr. 
Crocker  returned  to  the  United  States,  disabled, 
in  July,  1842,  apparently  without  any  prospect 
of  return,  —  a  shattered  remnant  of  a  man.  Mr. 
Fielding,  a  native  of  Nottingham,  England, 
ordained  at  Philadelphia  in  1840,  died  at  Edina 
in  seven  weeks  from  the  time  of  his  arrival 
there.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Constantine  returned 
home  disabled,  in  less  than  two  years,  and  re- 
signed in  August,  1842. 

About  this  time  the  Edina  Missionary  Society 
undertook  the  support  of  some  of  the  pupils  of 
the  mission-school  in  Edina,  where  sixty-five 
were  gathered  together  to  learn  the  rudiments 
of  knowledge  and  of  the  gospel.  The  press, 
having  commenced  operations,  gave  the  people 
in  successive  months,  in  the  Bassa  language,  a 
Book  of  Easy  Lessons,  a'  Reader,  Matthew, 
John,  Acts,  and  a  hymn-book. 

After  a  protracted  visit  at  home,  during  most 
of  which  he  seemed  to  be  lying  at  the  grave's 
mouth,  the  brave  missionary,  Mr.  Crocker,  hav- 
ing almost  miraculously  recovered,  chose  to  go 
forth  a  second  time,  and  sailed  for  Edina,  Jan. 
I,  1844.  He  arrived  at  Monrovia  Feb.  23,  and 
died  the  next  day,  Feb.  24,  of  hemorrhage. 
Having  reached  his  Pisgah,  the  Lord  buried 
him. 

The  second  Mrs.  Crocker  returned  to  Mon- 
rovia, where  she  labored  a  few  years,  and  died 
there  Nov.  23,  1853,  in  the  prime  of  her  life 
and  usefulness,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six. 


THE  MISSION  SUSPENDED.  277 

Early  in  1845  the  station  was  removed  from 
Edina  to  Bexley,  and  the  missionary  premises 
at  Edina  were  sold. 

Mr.  Clarke,  who  providentially  endured  the 
climate  better  than  any  of  his  brethren,  finished 
in  1846  a  dictionary  of  the  Bassa  language,  an 
invaluable  help  to  future  missionaries.  But  he 
too,  after  a  service  of  about  ten  years,  was 
obliged  to  succumb.  He  undertook  to  return 
to  the  United  States  to  recuperate  his  wasted 
energies.  But  it  was  too  late.  He  died  at  sea 
April  6,  1848,  and  his  tomb  is  in  the  great 
waters.  There  was  none  left  to  fill  his  place, 
and  the  mission  remained  in  charge  of  the 
Bassa  converts  nearly  two  years. 

But  the  work  he  did  had  not  been  in  vain. 
Nine  Bassa  youths  were  hopefully  converted 
this  year.  Besides,  one  of  the  natives,  a  young 
man  of  promise,  who  was  sent  to  this  country 
to  learn  the  printer's  trade,  became  hopefully 
pious  during  his  apprenticeship  in  Boston,  and 
returned  to  his  people  in  June,  1848. 

Messrs.  J.  S.  Goodman  and  H.  B.  Shermer, 
with  their  wives,  joined  the  mission  in  January, 
1853;  but  as  other  missionaries,  so  these,  had 
but  a  short  service  in  the  field.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Goodman  returned  within  two  years,  and  Mr. 
Shermer,  broken  down,  in  one.  Mrs.  Shermer 
died  within  ten  months.  A  native  preacher  and 
two  native  assistants  remained  at  Bexley,  and 
another  native  assistant  was  at  Little  Bassa. 
In  1856,  by  vote  of  the  Board,  the  mission  to 
Africa  was  temporarily  suspended. 

In  the  new  state  of  things  consequent  on  the 


278  MISSION  TO  AFRICA. 

close  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  1861-65,  a 
strong  desire  was  expressed  by  many  for  the 
re-opening  of  the  mission  in  Africa.  It  was 
judged  that  many  of  the  colored  people  would 
desire  to  improve  their  condition  by  emigration 
to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  insure  Liberia  as  a  base  of  opera- 
tions, from  which  the  work  might  be  vigorous- 
ly pushed  into  the  interior.  The  Committee 
expressed  their  deep  interest  in  the  enterprise, 
their  conviction  that  the  chief  dependence  for 
laborers  must  be  on  the  colored  men,  and  their 
purpose  to  stand  ready  to  enter  the  first  opening 
that  should  appear  to  recommence  the  work. 

At  the  annual  meeting  in  1867,  a  memorial 
was  received  from  many  ministers,  deacons,  and 
laymen  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  Liberia, 
asking  aid  for  missionaries  and  churches  already 
planted  in  Africa.  This  memorial  was  enter- 
tained favorably  ;  and  in  May,  1868,  a  committee 
of  the  Union  earnestly  recommended  that  meas- 
ures be  taken  as  soon  as  practicable  to  resume 
missionary  operations  in  West  Africa.  The 
Executive  Committee  recorded  their  conviction 
that  the  time  had  come  for  this  undertaking, 
and  that  it  should  be  the  aim  of  the  Union 
to  promote  the  evangelization  and  general  im- 
provement, both  of  colonists  and  the  natives 
of  the  country,  both  within  and  beyond  the 
territorial  limits  of  the  Republic. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Hill,  a  colored  preacher, 
who  had  been  a  missionary  in  Africa  eighteen 
years,  was  present  at  the  annual  meeting,  and 
by  his  remarks  made  a  very  happy  impression. 


ROBER  T  HILL.  —  HIS  DEA  TH.  2  79 

advocating  the  claims  of  the  African  race  upon 
America  for  missionary  labor.  In  the  discus- 
sions on  this  subject,  it  was  shown  that  the 
population  included  in  the  Republic  of  Liberia, 
colonists  and  natives,  amounted  to  625,000,  of 
whom  about  25,000  were  colonists.  The  natives 
and  colonists  mingled  together  in  social  life 
and  business,  and  gradually  learned  one  an- 
other's language.  Several  worthy  men  were 
already  prepared  to  preach  to  the  Bassas,  Veys, 
and  other  tribes. 

Mr.  Hill  was  evidently  the  proper  person  to 
recommence  the  work  in  Africa.  His  presence 
and  words  at  the  meeting  made  a  most  favor- 
able impression.  He  seemed  pre-eminently 
fitted  by  nature  and  education  to  act  a  promi- 
nent part  in  reviving  the  African  Mission. 

But  before  leaving  this  country  his  journey 
was  arrested,  and  a  few  days  of  conflict  and 
suffering  ended  his  mortal  life.  It  was  among 
his  last  requests  that  his  remains  might  find  a 
resting-place  in  the  bosom  of  his  beloved  Africa 
—  a  suggestion  which  was  heeded  by  the  Execu- 
tive Committee. 

The  Committee  appointed  a  committee  of 
superintendence  in  Africa,  and  four  mission- 
aries, men  of  color,  and  of  tried  character, 
already  on  the  ground.  One  of  this  number 
was  Mr.  Jacob  Vonbrun,  already  known  to  the 
mission  at  an  earlier  period,  a  man  of  princely 
blood,  and  an  humble  and  devout  Christian.  A 
blessing  attended  the  new  enterprise.  A  re- 
markable attention  to  religion  followed  the 
labors    of    the    missionaries.     A    considerable 


28o  MISSION   TO  AFRICA. 

number  of  native  Africans  became  the  hopeful 
subjects  of  renewing  grace,  not  in  one  but  in 
many  localities,  including  in  some  instances  the 
head  men  of  villages,  who  begged  to  have  mis- 
sionaries and  teachers  stationed  among  them. 
Hundreds  were  reported  as  converted  in  various 
parts  of  the  field,  among  whom  were  several 
promising  young  men,  desirous  of  entering  the 
ministry.  Many  natives  were  awakened  to 
serious  reflection,  and,  laying  aside  their  idols, 
became  interested  to  inquire  the  way  to  heaven, 
and  asked  that  teachers  and  preachers  might  be 
sent  to  them.  In  one  place  35  were  baptized, 
in  another  33,  in  another  62,  in  another  18,  in 
another  29, — many  of  these  being  Congoes. 
In  a  single  year  153  were  reported  baptized, 
and  218  converts. 

The  following  year  an  appropriation  was 
made  for  the  support  of  preachers  in  various 
parts  of  Liberia.  Many  of  them  labored  on  the 
borders  of,  the  territory,  in  the  vicinity  of  large 
native  tribes,  from  which  not  a  few  converts 
were  gathered.  On  Sabbath  morning,  June  8, 
1 87 1,  at  one  station,  forty  were  baptized  into 
the  name  of  Christ. 

A  commencement  was  made  of  efforts  for  the 
establishment  of  a  training-school  for  young 
preachers,  at  a  station  called  Virginia.  A 
growing  desire  was  manifest  for  instruction, 
and  even  the  surrounding  heathen  perceived 
that  an  education  such  as  Christians  enjoy 
would  be  a  blessing  to  their  people.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Vonbrun  about  this  time  visited  the  United 
States   to   raise   funds   to   build    a  chapel  and 


WORICIMG  IN  UNCERTAINTY.  281 

schoolhouse.  He  related  the  story  of  the  prog- 
ress of  the  gospel  among  his  own  tribe,  the 
Bassas.  He  told  how,  at  one  native  town  re- 
cently, large  congregations  of  natives  came 
from  every  direction  to  hear  the  word  of  God. 
At  another  town,  the  chief  and  his  people 
gathered  at  a  moment's  call  to  hear  the  gospel, 
and  after  the  preaching  the  chief  addressed  his 
people,  saying,  "The  word  of  God  should  be 
our  daily  song."  He  said,  "The  word  of  God 
is  very  sweet :  therefore  I  like  to  hear  it 
always."  Everywhere  the  natives  are  ceaseless 
in  their  invitations  to  the  gospel  teachers  to 
come  among  them,  and  teach  them  the  truth. 

In  February,  1 871,  a  brick  chapel  was  fin- 
ished and  dedicated  at  Congo-town,  and  four 
natives  were  baptized,  two  of  whom  were  so 
promising  that  they  were  immediately  taken 
into  the  school  to  study  with  reference  to  the 
ministry.  Two  churches  were  organized,  one 
at  Millsburg,  the  other  at  Arthington. 

The  efforts  of  the  Union,  in  this  period  of 
the  re-occupation  of  Africa  as  a  field  for  mis- 
sions, were  chiefly  tentative,"  —  the  work  among 
the  colonists  being  regarded  as  only  a  stepping- 
stone  to  a  more  extended  and  efficient  work  in 
behalf  of  the  unevangelized  native  population. 
The  Committee  in  this  country  labored  under 
the  difficulty  of  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the 
field  to  be  cultivated,  and  felt  the  need  of  hav- 
ing an  intelligent  and  judicious  agent  to  explore 
the  entire  field,  and  communicate  the  results  of 
personal  observation.  But  no  such  exploration 
had  hitherto  been  possible.     Mr.  Vonbrun  was 


282  MISSION   TO  AFRICA, 

the  only  preacher  of  the  gospel  in  Africa  living 
among  the  Bassas,  and  able  to  speak  their  lan- 
guage;  and  the  Executive  Committee  deter- 
mined to  afford  him  increased  aid,  in  the  hope 
that  more  of  the  native  population  might  be 
reached  through  him,  and  brought  under  the 
civilizing  and  saving  influences  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ. 

A  son  of  Mr.  Vonbrun  in  1872  opened  a 
mission-school  in  the  village  where  his  father 
labored  as  a  preacher ;  and  the  undertaking 
among  the  Bassa  people  seemed  very  encour- 
aging. 

The  Congoes,  also,  manifested  a  desire  to 
hear  the  word,  and  were  very  attentive  when- 
ever the  opportunity  was  afforded  them.  The 
chief  of  one  of  the  native  tribes,  and  three  of 
his  leading  men,  sent  a  written  petition  to  the 
nearest  missionary,  begging  for  a  preacher  and 
schools,  and  pledging  themselves,  if  their  peti- 
tion was  favorably  received,  to  build  a  school- 
house  and  chapel,  and  a  comfortable  residence 
for  the  missionary. 

The  next  year,  1873,  the  Report  speaks  of 
the  successes  of  the  Word  at  nearly  all  the  sta- 
tions sustained  or  partly  sustained  by  the  Union. 
Mr.  Vonbrun  sent  an  account  of  a  most  interest- 
ing baptismal  occasion  July  4,  1873,  when  he 
gathered  into  the  church  the  largest  number  he 
had  ever  had  the  privilege  of  baptizing  at  one 
time.  People  came  in  great  numbers  to  witness 
the  ceremony ;  and  seven  males  and  twelve  fe- 
males, nineteen  in  all,  and  all  native  Bassas 
except  one  little  boy,  put  off  their  idolatry,  and 
put  on  Christ  by  an  open  profession. 


UNCERTAINTY  AND  PROGRESS.  283 

But  the  policy  of  the  work  still  seemed  uncer- 
tain. In  1874  appropriations  were  made  to  the 
African  Mission  on  a  reduced  scale,  the  largest 
sums  being  given  to  the  stations  where  the  peo- 
ple were  chiefly  natives.  Mr.  Vonbrun's  work 
among  the  Bassas  continued  to  prosper.  But 
L.  Kong  Crocker,  an  educated  Bassa,  who  was 
expected  to  be  very  useful  to  his  people,  was  re- 
moved by  an  early  death.  Other  tribes,  as  the 
Mandingoes,  began  to  feel  the  influence  of  the 
gospel.  The  baptisms  reported  in  the  mission 
during  the  year  1873  were  118,  which  was  proba- 
bly only  a  part  of  the  whole  number.  Churches 
aided,  10;  preachers,  10;  members  of  the  church 
in  the  stations  aided,  525.  Fifty  converted 
Bassas  were  members  of  the  church  at  Von- 
brunsville.  In  1875  a  Congo  young  man  com- 
pleted a  four  years'  course  of  study,  and  was 
sent  forth  to  labor  among  his  people.  The  stu- 
dents in  the  school  resolved  themselves  into  an 
*' African  Mite  Society,"  and  pledged  them- 
selves to  furnish  part  of  the  means  of  his  sup- 
port as  a  missionary. 

In  1875  war  was  undertaken  by  some  of  the 
hostile  tribes  against  the  Republic  of  Liberia; 
and  many  of  the  brethren  were  called  off  from 
the  work  to  engage  in  the  defence  of  their  land. 
The  whole  country  was  disturbed,  and  every 
interest  suffered  by  this  irruption  of  barbarism. 
There  was  also  some  perplexity  in  regard  to  re- 
mittances ;  and  the  amount  appropriated  to  the 
mission  was  again  reduced  because  the  Commit- 
tee were  not  satisfied  with  the  work  they  were 
doing  in  Africa.     It  was  not  sufficiently  the  dis- 


284  MISSION  TO  AFRICA. 

tinctive  work  proposed  by  the  Missicnary  Union, 
-r  the  evangelization  of  the  heathen.  The  Re- 
port of  1876  announced  that  in  their  last  sched- 
ule of  appropriations  the  Committee  had  as- 
signed no  money,  except  for  the  support  of  Mr. 
Vonbrun  at  Vonbrunsville,  in  the  Bassa  coun- 
try. But  Mr.  Vonbrun  died  soon  after,  in  1876, 
which  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  time  had 
come  for  another  suspension  of  the  work.  If 
the  workmen  were  taken  away,  who  should  sow 
the  seed,  or  put  in  the  sickle  and  reap  }  A  na- 
tive preacher,  however,  became  the  minister  of 
the  Bassa  church,  several  conversions  after- 
wards occurred,  and  the  natives  were  interested 
to  hear  the  gospel.  The  school  and  the  Sabbath 
school  were  also  continued  and  in  a  hopeful 
state. 

A  review  of  the  history  of  the  mission  of  the 
Union  in  West  Africa,  the  dark  continent,  leaves 
upon  the  mind  a  painful  impression  of  mystery. 
The  question  forces  itself  upon  us.  What  is  the 
interpretation  of  such  a  history.?  What  does 
Providence  design  to  teach }  We  survey  with 
sadness  the  protracted  period,  almost  barren  of 
fruit,  since  the  work  began, — now  nearly  sixty 
years ;  the  precious  lives  sacrificed,  often  in  the 
briefest  period, — Gary,  Holton,  Crocker,  Skin- 
ner, Anderson,  Fielding,  Constantine,  Clarke, 
falling  in  succession  in  the  beginning  of  the 
fight ;  the  feeble  impression,  comparatively,  made 
upon  the  heathenism  of  the  continent  by  all  our 
efforts,  and  at  such  expense  ;  the  repeated  sus- 
pension  of  the  work,  and  its  resumption  again, 
only  to  be  interrupted  anew  ;    and  finally,  our 


CONCLUDING   THOUGHTS,  285 

substantial  withdrawal  from  the  field,  at  least 
for  a  season.  Were  the  Christians  of  America 
in  error,  in  supposing  that  God  would  have  us 
preach  the  gospel  in  Africa?  Has  God's  set 
time  not  come  ?  Shall  Africa  ever  be  evangel- 
ized ? 

We  are  taught  only  with  reverent  awe  to  obey 
the  injunction  of  the  Psalmist,  —  "Be  still,  and 
know  that  I  am  God."  God  will  interpret  these 
things  in  due  time.  Africa,  we  believe,  is  not 
shut  out  from  his  tender  mercies.  That  com- 
passionate heart,  to  which  is  given  *'  all  power 
in  heaven  and  in  earth,"  has  not  shut  even  Africa 
out  of  its  regards.  Messiah's  throne  shall  yet 
be  established  over  all  the  earth.  Europe  and 
Asia,  Africa,  and  America,  and  the  islands  of 
the  sea,  shall  yet  own  his  sway. 


No.  XVIII. 

MISSION  TO  FRANCE. 

Missions  in  Europe.  —  Baptists  in  Northern  France.  —  A  C  hurch 
organized.  —  Additional  Missionaries,  — Removal  to  Douai. —  Prog- 
ress of  the  Work.  —  Various  Changes.  —  Year  of  Prosperity.  — 
Persecutions  by  the  Police.  —  Fines  paid  by  New-York  Brethren.  — 
Death  of  Mrs.  Willard.  —  The  Question  of  Continuance.  —  Impris- 
onment of  French  Pastors.  —  The  Mission  re-enforced.  —  The  Mis- 
sion divided.  —  The  Churches  in  the  North.  —  The  Church  in  Paris. 
—  South-eastern  France.  —  No  American  Missionaries  left. — Sta- 
tistical Table.  —  Gradual  Progress.  —  The  Mission  during  the  War. 
—  Further  Progress.  —  Concluding  Thoughts. 

AT  the  annual  meeting  in  1832,  the  Con- 
vention authorized  the  Board  to  take  the 
requisite  steps  to  ascertain  the  expediency  of 
enlarging  the  scope  of  foreign  missions,  so  as 
to  include  France,  Germany,  and  Greece.  Rev. 
Irah  Chase,  Professor  in  the  Newton  Theologi- 
cal Institution,  sailed  from  this  country  for 
Havre  in  October,  1832,  purposing  to  remain 
in  France  during  the  winter,  and  make  the  ne- 
cessary investigations.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Mr.  J.  C.  Rostan,  an  educated  Frenchman,  who 
was  appointed  to  make  continued  inquiries,  with 
the  understanding  that  if  the  result  were  favor- 
able, the  field  was  to  be  occupied  by  the  Union. 
Mr.  Rostan's  service  proved  to  be  a  brief  one,  as 
he  died  of  cholera  in  December,  1833.  During 
286 


BAPTISTS  IN  NORTHERN  FRANCE.       287 

the  preceding  winter,  however,  a  small  chapel 
had  been  hired  in  Paris,  in  which  religious  ser- 
vices were  performed  on  the  Sabbath  and  on 
other  occasions.  In  conjunction  with  an  Eng- 
lish Baptist  missionary,  Mr.  Rostan,  in  the  win- 
ter and  spring  of  .1832-3,  conducted  a  system 
of  preaching  and  lecturing,  joined  with  pastoral 
visiting  among  the  people  who  attended  the 
chapel.  Mr.  Rostan  also  aimed  to  commend 
the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged  to  the  con- 
sideration of  persons  of  liberal  views.  He  had 
several  interviews  for  this  purpose  with  Gen. 
Lafayette  and  members  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  and  explained  to  them  the  object  of 
his  mission.  He  was  treated  with  much  con- 
sideration, and  invited  to  serve  as  lecturer  on 
Christianity  before  the  "  Society  for  Promoting 
Civilization  ; "  but  his  plans  were  broken  off  by 
his  lamented  death. 

Professor  Chase  found,  especially  in  Northern 
France,  several  Christian  churches  holding  the 
principles  of  the  Baptists,  though  often  in  a 
corrupted  and  defective  state.  And  on  his  re- 
turn to  the  United  States,  he  made  so  encour- 
aging a  report  to  the  Board,  that  it  was  deter- 
mined to  commence  a  work  in  this  new  field. 
Another  French  Baptist  preacher  was  appoint- 
ed to  carry  forward  the  investigations  com- 
menced by  Mr.  Rostan.  Mr.  Isaac  Willmarth, 
then  of  the  Newton  Theological  Institution, 
was  designated  to  begin  the  mission  in  Paris  ; 
and  he  arrived  in  that  city  in  June,  1834.  The 
audience  in  the  little  chapel  hitherto  had  num- 
bered from  fifteen  to  thirty. 


288  MISSION  TO  FRANCE. 

May  lo,  1835,  a  church  was  organized,  con- 
sisting of  six  members.  Two  days  afterwards 
four  more  were  baptized.  Early  in  the  same 
year,  two  theological  students  were  received  to 
the  church,  who  placed  themselves  under  in- 
struction. Thus  a  part  of  the  work  committed 
to  Mr.  Willmarth's  charge  was  successfully 
begun. 

Soon  after,  in  July,  1835,  additional  preach- 
ers were  employed  in  Paris  and  in  the  prov- 
inces, and  Mr.  Willmarth  undertook  a  tour  into 
Northern  France,  to  visit  the  Baptist  churches 
said  to  exist  in  that  region.  Many  of  the  peo- 
ple seemed  not  to  be  aware  that  there  were 
others  in  the  world  who  held  views  of  Christian 
doctrine  and  ecclesiastical  order  similar  to  their 
own,  and  earnestly  begged  that  their  brethren 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  would  not  neglect 
them. 

Rev.  Erastus  Willard,  a  graduate  of  Water- 
ville  College,  and  Rev.  David  N.  Sheldon,  a 
graduate  of  Williams  College,  and  both  of  the 
Newton  Theological  Institution,  joined  the  mis- 
sion Nov.  24,  1835,  —  the  latter  to  remain  in. 
Paris  ;  the  former  to  proceed  to  the  North,  and 
open  a  mission-school,  with  a  department  for 
the  instruction  of  approved  candidates  for  the 
ministry.  They  spent  the  ensuing  winter  in 
Paris,  aiding  Mr.  Willmarth  in  preaching  in 
English,  distributing  religious  tracts  and  books, 
writing  for  the  press,  and  at  the  same  time 
studying  the  language.  Mr.  Sheldon  first 
preached  in  French  in  November,  1836, — just 
a  year  after  his  arrival.     He  also  published  a 


PROGRESS  OF  THE    WORK.  289 

tract,  exhibiting  the  religious  belief  of  the  Bap- 
tists. 

In  April,  1836,  these  brethren  made  another 
tour  through  the  North,  visiting  the  Baptist 
churches.  On  their  journey  they  aided  in  or- 
daining a  Baptist  pastor,  Rev.  Joseph  Thieffry, 
over  a  little  French  Baptist  church.  He  is  still 
living,  at  an  advanced  age,  having  pursued  a 
useful  and  honored  career.  In  June  following, 
Messrs.  Willmarth  and  Willard  removed  to 
Douai,  a  large  town  in  the  extreme  north  of 
France,  bordering  on  Belgium  —  a  town  having 
a  population  of  about  twenty  thousand  —  and 
selected  as  a  locality  for  the  school  a  small  town 
called  Nomain,  twelve  miles  distant.  This  town 
was  chosen  because  it  was  the  seat  of  a  small 
Baptist  church.  This  and  three  other  churches 
were  adopted  by  the  mission,  and  pastors  were 
ordained  and  set  over  them.  On  account  of 
subsequent  inauspicious  events,  the  plan  of  the 
school  was  never  carried  out.  Mr.  Willard, 
however,  instructed  several  young  men  in  stud- 
ies preparatory  to  the  ministry. 

At  Douai  religious  services  were  sustained 
by  an  assistant,  and  in  Paris  by  Mr.  Sheldon. 
From  the  places  already  adopted  as  centres, 
the  missionaries  and  their  assistants  went  out 
through  the  surrounding  country,  and  subordi- 
nate stations  were  established  in  other  villages, 
and  provided  with  the  regular  preaching  of  the 
gospel.  Several  other  persons  were  employed 
to  distribute  Bibles  and  tracts,  and  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  people,  by  conversation  or 
otherwise,    to   the   truths   of    Christianity.     In 


290  MISSION  TO  FRANCE. 

July,  and  again  in  August,  a  new  church  was 
organized,  —  the  latter  in  Genlis  ;  and  Mr.  Cre- 
tin, formerly  a  student  at  Douai,  and  so  long 
known  as  a  devoted  and  efficient  laborer  in  the 
mission,  was  ordained  pastor. 

In  1837,  on  account  of  the  failing  health  ot 
Mr.  Willmarth,  he  returned  to  the  United 
States,  and  was  never  able  to  resume  the  work. 
A  church  was  organized  at  Douai,  Sept.  i, 
1838,  of  five  members;  and  in  April,  1839,  Mr. 
Sheldon  removed  thither  from  Paris,  to  assist 
Mr.  Willard.  The  chapel  which  had  been  first 
occupied  in  Paris  was  so  inconveniently  situ- 
ated that  i1^  was  relinquished,  and  the  public 
services  were  held  alternately  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Sheldon  or  Mrs.  Rostan,  or  at  the  homes 
of  some  of  the  members ;  and  the  labors  of  the 
mission  were  chiefly  of  a  retired  and  private 
character,  and  devoted  to  the  dissemination  of 
the  gospel  by  other  methods  than  preaching. 

Mr.  Sheldon  at  Douai  immediately  took 
charge  of  the  theological  pupils,  and  conducted 
services  on  the  Sabbath  in  the  English  chapel. 
But  owing  to  his  conviction  that  the  mission 
thus  far  had  not  proved  a  success,  and  that  the 
promise  of  the  future  was  not  auspicious,  he 
relinquished  the  work,  and  returned  to  the 
United  States. 

At  this  period  there  were  seven  churches 
connected  with  the  mission,  and  one  hundred 
and  forty-two  members.  In  the  year  1839  thir- 
teen were  added  by  baptism.  There  were  also 
six  ordained  ministers  and  five  assistants,  who 
preached  or  performed  other  duties  at  seven 
stations  and  five  out-stations. 


PERSECUTIONS  BY  THE  POLICE,        29 T 

The  mission  was  now  entirely  dependent  on 
Mr.  Willard,  who  was  left  the  only  foreign 
laborer  in  the  work.  In  1840  four  French 
assistants  retired  from  the  service ;  but  two 
others  were  employed,  and  two  preachers  were 
ordained.  The  following  year  was  a  year  of 
prosperity  :  forty-six  were  baptized  in  all  the 
churches,  most  of  them  being  recent  converts 
from  Romanism,  and  the  total  number  of  mem- 
bers increased  to  two  hundred. 

One  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  mission  was  the  opposition  of  the 
government.  The  French  Code,  which  grew 
out  of  the  Revolution  of  July,  1830,  contained 
a  distinct  provision  for  freedom  of  worship  for 
all  religious  denominations.  But,  notwithstand- 
ing this  provision  of  the  constitution,  the  legis- 
lature enacted  laws  directly  opposed  to  this 
fundamental  principle.  One  of  these  laws  pro- 
hibited the  meeting  together  of  an  association 
of  more  than  twenty  persons  for  any  purpose, 
without  the  express  permission  of  the  magis- 
trates. Another  made  any  person  opening  his 
house  for  public  worship  liable  to  a  fine  of  from 
sixteen  to  two  hundred  francs.  The  execution 
of  these  laws  was  committed  to  the  mayors  of 
the  communes,  who  were  generally  Roman 
Catholics,  and  under  the  control  of  the  priests  ; 
and  they  used  their  power  in  all  ordinary  cases 
for  the  suppression  of  all  religious  services  of 
Protestant  believers.  It  was  under  such  a  sys- 
tem that  the  opening  of  the  chapel  at  Genlis 
was  prohibited  for  eleven  years  ;  and,  when  the 
members  met  at  their  own  houses,  they  were 


292  MISSION  TO  FRANCE, 

often  interrupted  by  the  police  or  the  National 
Guard.  There  and  elsewhere  the  meetings  were 
broken  up,  the  persons  at  whose  houses  they 
were  held  were  fined  or  imprisoned,  the  preach- 
ers were  arrested  and  punished  by  the  muni- 
cipal officers,  and  sometimes  drawn  before  the 
higher  courts. 

For  several  years  a  preacher  or  colporter 
was  liable  to  be  seized  and  fined  whenever  he 
preached  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 
The  magistrates  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in 
these  prosecutions.  For  a  time  wealthy  Bap- 
tist brethren,  silk-merchants  in  New  York,  paid 
the  fines  of  these  persecuted  laborers,  that  they 
might  go  forth  again  from  prison  on  their  mis- 
sion of  mercy.  The  magistrates,  having  dis- 
covered this  fact,  redoubled  their  prosecutions, 
and  even  sought  in  our  *'  Missionary  Magazine," 
which  they  obtained,  names  and  places,  that 
they  might  more  adroitly  pursue  their  persecut- 
ing work.  After  this  became  known  in  this 
country,  the  journals  of  the  French  Mission 
were  printed  with  blank  spaces  for  places  and 
names,  that  they  might  not  supply  materials  for 
the  use  of  the  French  police. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  from  1840  to 
1848,  when  the  Revolution  led  to  the  proclama- 
tion of  unrestrained  religious  freedom  through- 
out France,  —  that  is,  in  form,  but  not  in  fact. 
France  does  not  yet  enjoy  religious  freedom  to 
the  full.  Mr.  Cretin  told  the  writer  in  Lyons, 
in  1876,  that  he  could  not  give  away  a  religious 
tract  in  that  city  without  danger  of  arrest. 
Many  petitions  for   religious  liberty  were  pre- 


IMPRISONMENT  OF  FRENCH  PASTORS,   293 

sented  to  the  government  by  the  Baptists  ;  one 
of  them,  a  few  years  later,  to  the  emperor  him- 
self. The  response  was  that  he  desired  that  all 
his  subjects  might  enjoy  perfect  religious  toler- 
ation. But  the  priests,  and  the  magistrates 
who  were  managed  by  them,  succeeded  in 
maintaining  the  reign  of  intolerance  and  opr 
pression. 

Mrs.  Willard  died  at  Douai,  Oct.  4,  1844;  and 
Mr.  Willard  and  family  returned  to  the  United 
States,  leaving  the  converts  discouraged  by  per- 
secution and  without  a  single  American  leader 
on  whom  they  could  lean. 

In  1845  the  question  was  seriously  debated, 
whether  Mr.  Willard  should  be  "authorized  to 
return  to  France,  and  resume  the  mission,  or 
whether  the  work  should  be  suspended.  At 
last  it  was  determined  to  proceed ;  and  Mr. 
Willard,  with  his  family,  renewed  his  efforts  in 
May,  1846.  In  that  year,  as  if  the  God  of  mis- 
sions would  strengthen  the  faith  and  reward  the 
courage  of  his  people,  a  blessing  was  enjoyed 
at  almost  every  station,  and  fourteen  were  bap- 
tized. There  were  reported  thirty-three  out- 
stations  and  ten  French  preachers  and  assist- 
ants. 

But  the  same  year  two  of  the  assistants, 
Messrs.  Lepoids  and  Foulon,  were  arrested  and 
thrown  into  prison  for  alleged  violations  of  the 
law  relating  to  associations.  The  former  of 
these  brethren  was  particularly  distinguished 
for  his  ability  and  fidelity,  and  has  been  for  sev- 
eral years  the  honored  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
church  in   Paris.     They  were  brought  to  trial 


294  MISSION  TO  FRANCE. 

first  before  an  inferior  court,  and  fined  three 
hundred  francs.  The  case  was  carried  to  a 
higher  court,  by  which  the  judgment  was  some- 
what modified,  and  the  fine  reduced  to  fifty 
francs.  After  this,  appeal  was  made  to  the 
highest  court  in  the  Empire.  But,  before  the 
final  trial,  the  Revolution  of  February,  1848, 
overthrew  the  throne,  and  religious  liberty 
without  restriction  was  proclaimed  throughout 
France.  It  was  then  that  the  chapel  at  Genlis 
was  opened,  March  26,  1848,  after  being  unoc- 
cupied eleven  years  ;  and  the  scattered  disciples 
came  together,  and  celebrated  the  triumph  of 
the  great  principle  of  religious  freedom. 

Dr.  T.  T.  Devan,  formerly  a  missionary  in 
Canton,  China,  having  been  compelled  by  fail- 
ure of  his  health  to  retire  from  the  work  in 
Asia,  was  transferred  to  the  French  Mission, 
and  arrived  in  Paris  March  8,  1848.  Mr.  Wil- 
lard  had  given  much  instruction  to  the  French 
preachers  at  Douai,  and  endeavored  to  make  the 
church  there  a  model  of  good  order  and  dis- 
cipline. The  mission  now  numbered  fifteen 
churches  and  branches,  about  two  hundred 
members,  and  ten  native  preachers  and  assist- 
ants. Dr.  Devan  soon  went  to  Douai  to  consult 
with  Mr.  Willard,  and  on  his  return  to  Paris 
made  it  his  first  business  to  ascertain  the  oppor- 
tunities for  recommencing  the  missionary  labors 
which  had  been  discontinued  since  the  depart- 
ure of  Mr.  Sheldon.  In  these  nine  years  the 
church  had  become  scattered,  and  not  one  of 
its  original  members  could  be  found.  But  the 
nucleus   of    a   congregation   was   gathered   foi 


THE   CHURCHES  IN  THE  NORTH,         295 

worship,  a  chapel  opened  Aug.  6,  1848,  and  a 
Sabbath  school  in  January,  1849;  ^.nd  in  this 
year  forty-five  baptisms  were  reported.  In  but 
one  previous  year  in  the  history  of  the  mission 
had  there  been  so  many.  Dr.  Devan  had  been 
associated  with  the  mission  in  Paris  only  thirteen 
months,  when  the  chapel  was  given  up,  and  the 
preaching  again  suspended,  and  Dr.  Devan  re- 
moved to  South-eastern  France.  A  French  Bap- 
tist Association  was  formed  June  6,  1849.  Mr. 
Foulon,  before  alluded  to,  was  ordained  at  Gen- 
lis ;  but  after  a  few  years  he  removed  to  the 
State  of  Illinois,  and  became  pastor  in  a  French 
colony,  some  of  whom  emigrated  with  him. 

In  1849  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  divide  the 
mission  into  the  Nort^iern  and  South-eastern 
departments.  In  the  South-eastern  department 
were  Lyons  and  St.  Etienne,  with  the  fields 
within  a  convenient  distance.  All  the  other 
churches  were  in  the  North-east  of  France,  and 
near  the  eastern  border  of  the  Great  Northern 
Railway. 

In  July,  185 1,  the  churches  in  North-eastern 
France  were  visited  by  the  Foreign  Secretary ; 
and  in  1867  Professor  Howard  Osgood  visited 
all  the  churches  in  both  departments,  and  pre- 
sented to  the  Board,  on  his  return,  a  valuable 
report,  containing  suggestions  of  great  impor- 
tance. 

In  the  North-east  of  France  the  first  of  the 
churches  is  in  Denain,  a  town  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  from  Paris,  near  a  place  of  twelve 
thousand  inhabitants,  built  up  by  a  vast  coal  and 
iron  interest.     Most  of  the  members  were  la- 


296  MISSION  TO  FRANCE. 

borers  in  the  mines,  and  all  very  poor.  There 
are  numerous  out-stations.  The  first  pastor,  Mr. 
Cretin,  one  of  the  first  students  at  Douai,  is  a 
modest  man,  but  energetic  and  persevering/  He 
has  written  more  than  any  other  of  the  French 
brethren  on  Baptist  principles.  Most  of  the 
pastors,  evangelists,  and  colporters,  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  mission,  have  been  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  by  the  blessing  of  God 
on  his  labors.  He  was  everywhere  denounced 
by  the  priests,  but  honored  and  loved  by  the 
people. 

South-west  of  this  place,  seventy-five  miles, 
are  two  others,  where  churches  have  been 
established,  —  Chauny  and  Laf^re.  In  the 
former  are  nine  thousand  inhabitants  :  several 
thousands  of  them  are  employed  in  the  glass- 
works. A  chapel  was  built  in  1854,  but  was 
kept  closed  by  the  police  twelve  years,  being 
opened  in  1866.  Mr.  Lepoids,  now  pastor  in 
Paris,  was  pastor  here  twenty  years.  There 
are  out-stations  in  about  twenty  different  vil- 
lages. The  present  pastor  performs  all  his 
journeys  on  foot,  that  he  may  have  more  to 
give  away.  Sometimes  he  makes  a  journey  of 
fifteen  miles  on  foot  in  the  interest  of  the  mis- 
sion, and  returns  in  the  same  way  the  same  day. 

In  Laf^re,  six  miles  away,  the  members  are 
all  peasants,  laboring  on  the  lands  of  proprie- 
tors, and  walking  on  the  Sabbath  from  six  to 
twelve  miles,  to  be  present  in  their  modest 
place  of  worship.  One  sister,  whose  poverty 
is  startling,  used  to  walk  nine  miles  regularly 
to  the  meeting  on  the  Sabbath.    The  room  used 


THE   CHURCH  IN  PARIS.  297 

for  worship  is  the  ground-floor  of  a  barn,  nicely 
fitted  up. 

About  fifty  miles  distant  is  another  church 
composed  of  members  living  in  villages  widely 
scattered  from  one  another,  in  a  farming  terri- 
tory. Their  houses  were,  in  succession,  the 
places  for  prayer-meetings,  and  the  only  chapel 
a  room  in  the  house  of  the  pastor.  All  through 
the  fall  and  winter  no  storm  or  inclement 
weather  prevented  the  pastor  from  being  pres- 
ent at  the  prayer-meetings  in  the  several  dis- 
tricts. At  another  church  fifteen  miles  distant, 
an  aged  sister  used  to  go  from  house  to  house, 
when  the  minister  had  appointed  to  preach,  and 
invite  all  to  come  to  hear  the  gospel.  The  con- 
sequence was  that  the  room  was  filled  to  over- 
flowing ;  even  the  Roman  Catholics,  moved  by 
her  earnestness  and  interest,  acceded  to  her 
request. 

The  Baptist  church  in  Paris  was  reconstituted 
in  1850,  with  four  members.  The  first  pastor 
was  Mr.  Dez,  who  is  still  a  worthy  and  efficient 
laborer.'  The  room  hired  for  worship  was  small, 
dark,  and  inconvenient,  and  used  for  a  school 
during  the  week.  Here  the  church  worshipped 
for  thirteen  years,  and  grew  to  number  eighty- 
four  members,  when  another  and  better  room 
was  obtained  in  the  same  vicinity,  and  occupied 
till  the  erection  of  the  present  marble-front 
chapel.  So  straitened  were  their  accommoda- 
tions before  the  erection  of  the  chapel,  that 
for  years  the  only  accommodation  for  a  baptis- 
tery enjoyed  by  the  church  was  no  better  than 
a  large  bathing-tub ;  the  administrator  standing 


298  MISSION  TO  FRANCE. 

on  the  outside,  and  the  candidate  in  a  sitting 
posture  in  the  tub  being  submerged  in  the 
water.  There  was  no  "going  down  into  the 
water,  nor  coming  up  out  of  the  water;"  no 
chance  for  a  crowd  of  interested  spectators  ;  no 
opportunity  for  a  solemn  impression  to  be  made 
upon  the  wondering  witnesses  of  the  ceremony, 
which  was  performed  in  a  chamber  adjoining  that 
in  which  the  congregation  was  assembled,  and 
was  too  small  to  admit  others  than  the  immediate 
actors. 

In  Lyons,  in  the  South-eastern  department, 
when  Dr.  Devan  left  the  work,  the  church  num- 
bered one  hundred  and  six.  Afterwards  the 
chapel  was  closed,  the  church  scattered,  and 
only  twenty  members  remained  faithful.  In 
1868,  according  to  the  report  of  Dr.  Osgood, 
they  were  accustomed  to  meet  in  a  private 
room,  to  read  the  Scriptures,  and  sing  and  pray, 
and  exhort  one  another.  Seven  years  later 
many  of  the  members  were  poor  weavers, 
manufacturing  elegant  silks  in  their  humble 
attics  to  clothe  the  rich  and  fashionable  of  this 
world,  and  wearing,  in  their  poverty,  the  gar- 
ment of  Christ's  righteousness  for  their  own 
adornment  in  this  world  and  the  world  to  come. 
With  their  devoted  pastor,  Mr.  Cretin,  we  visited 
and  talked  with  several  of  them. 

Sixty  miles  from  Lyons  is  another  church, 
located  in  St.  Etienne,  the  centre  of  a  large 
collection  of  ribbon  and  cutlery  manufactories. 
It  was  organized  April  8,  1849,  "^^^^^  six  mem- 
bers, and  has  never  had  a  regular  pastor.  The 
members  are  all  poor,  and  hire  for  their  chapel 


NO  AMERICAN  MISSIONARIES  LEFT.     299 

an  attic  room,  where  they  hold  their  meetings 
on  the  Sabbath  and  during  the  week.  A  man 
and  woman  between  sixty  and  seventy  years  of 
age  were  accustomed  to  walk  a  distance  of  ten 
miles,  to  attend  the  public  service  in  this  poor 
upper  room.  The  Baptist  members  in  France 
are  said  to  observe  the  Sabbath  with  puritanical 
strictness,  and  they  are  noted  for  their  pious 
lives. 

Instruction  continued  to  be  given  to  young 
ministers  at  Douai  till  1853,  when  Mr.  Willard 
removed  to  Paris,  and  the  church  at  Douai  was 
dissolved.  The  church  at  Paris,  in  1856,  num- 
bered thirty-five  members,  and  the  congregation 
seventy  or  eighty.  In  1877  the  number  of 
members  was  one  hundred  and  ten.  Sometimes 
for  months  in  succession  police-agents  attended 
the  services  as  spies,  but  offered  no  interruption. 

Dr.  Devan  removed  to  Lyons  in  March,  1850. 
A  place  of  worship  was  opened,  and  a  church 
organized  with  four  members.  Violent  oppo- 
sition was  experienced,  but  the  church  con- 
tinued to  grow.  In  1877  the  number  was 
increased  to  thirty-one.  In  1853  Dr.  Devan 
withdrew  from  the  mission,  and  the  work  in 
the  South-eastern  department  was  temporarily 
suspended.  In  1856  Mr.  Willard  left  the  mis- 
sion, and  returned  to  the  United  States.  Since 
that  date,  the  work  has  been  carried  forward 
only  by  French  brethren,  no  missionary  from 
America  being  in  the  field. 

The  following  table  shows  the  progress  of  the 
mission  for  several  years. 


300  MISSION  TO  FRANCE. 

TOTAL 

YEAR.    •                                                                             BAPTIZED.  OF  MEMBERS. 

1856 II  281 

1857 17  286 

1859 14  '^'^^ 

i860 20  304 

I86I 23  319 

1862 44  328 

1863 25  352 

1865 31  351 

1866  ......  16  358 

1867 25  373 

1868 41  438 

1869 23  445 

1870 23  460 

1871 21  574 

1873 46  563 

1874 42  548' 

1877 61  S99 

The  mission  now  for  some  years  held  on  the 
even  tenor  of  its  way,  gradually  extending  its 
influence,  calling  in  new  hearers  and  new  con- 
verts, mostly  from  the  ranks  of  Romanism.  In 
1869  a  member  of  the  church  in  Paris  donated 
to  the  mission  a  chapel  in  one  of  the  quarters 
of  the  city,  where  meetings  were  held  three 
times  weekly.  Bibles  and  Testaments  in  consid- 
erable numbers  were  sold,  and  the  truth  circu- 
lated among  the  people.  This  year  Mr.  Lepoids 
became  the  regular  pastor  of  the  church  in  Paris, 
and  the  members  began  to  lay  aside  their  offer- 
ings the  first  day  of  the  week  regularly  for  the 
poor  and  for  missions. 

During  the  Franco-Prussian  war  most  of  the 
male  members  of  the  churches  were  called  into 
the  field ;  but  the  meetings  were  continued  in 
Paris  throughout  the  siege,  and  here  and  there 


FURTHER  PROGRESS.  30 1 

one  was  converted  and  baptized.  Through  the 
gifts  of  brethren  in  London  previously  sent, 
sufficient  provision  was  made,  so  that  none  of 
the  members  suffered  for  food,  according  to  the 
Divine  promise,  "  Bread  shall  be  given  him,  his 
water  shall  be  sure."  All  the  stations  of  the 
mission  suffered  more  or  less  ;  but  of  the  thirty 
or  forty  young  soldiers  belonging  to  the  Baptist 
churches,  who  were  in  every  battle,  only  one 
was  killed  so  far  as  known.  In  the  cities  bom- 
barded by  the  Prussians,  where  there  were 
Christian  families,  not  one  received  the  slight- 
est scratch,  though  the  bombs  fell  on  and  in 
their  houses.  Not  one  had  his  house  burned, 
or  his  cattle  carried  away  by  the  soldiers  or 
smitten  by  the  cattle-disease. 

In  1872  a  chapel  was  commenced  for  the 
church  in  Paris,  and  dedicated  Sept.  14,  1873. 
More  than  seven  thousand  dollars  of  the  expense 
was  paid  by  the  contributions  of  friends  in  Eng- 
land. A  new  station  was  opened,  and  a  church 
organized  in  a  place  from  which  more  than 
twenty  towns  and  villages  could  be  reached,  and 
in  many  of  which  there  was  much  encourage- 
ment. In  1874  new  chapels  were  opened  at  two 
of  the  stations,  both  of  them  in  the  midst  of 
Catholic  populations.  One  of  the  members,  a 
young  man,  wishing  to  consecrate  himself  to  the 
service  of  God  in  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
bought  himself  off  from  a  year's  service  as  a 
soldier,  by  paying  three  hundred  dollars  to  the 
government.  This  was  plainly  a  work  of  self- 
denial  for  Christ's  sake.  In  the  following  years, 
the  spirit  of  liberality  was  gradually  developed 


302  MISSION   TO  FRANCE. 

more  and  more  in  the  churches,  every  one  of 
them  giving  Hberally,  considering  the  poverty 
of  most  of  the  members,  for  the  support  of  the 
work.  In  1877  the  chapel  at  Chauny,  which  at 
an  earUer  period  had  been  closed  by  the  govern- 
ment for  full  twelve  years,  was  enlarged,  —  the 
growing  inclination  of  the  people  to  attend  Prot- 
estant worship  j ustifying  the  measure.  A  chapel 
was  built  and  dedicated  at  Montbelliard,  costing 
about  sixty-five  hundred  dollars,  of  which  more 
than  five  thousand  dollars  were  collected  in 
France  and  England.  Thirty  were  added  to  the 
church  by  baptism  during  the  year,  so  that,  while 
the  visible  temple  was  going  forward,  lively 
stones  were  also  brought  for  the  spiritual  house, 
the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Three  of  the 
converts  were  from  a  town  across  the  borders,  in 
Switzerland. 

The  mission  to  France  has  now  existed  nearly 
half  a  century,  and  has  made  a  slow,  but,  on 
the  whole,  a  solid,  growth.  He  who  reads  the 
journals  of  the  mission,  detailing  alternately 
hope  and  discouragement,  activity  and  suspen- 
sion, advance  and  recession,  sees  in  them  a 
mirror  of  the  character  of  the  French  people. 
The  native  brethren  employed  in  the  mission 
have  been  devoted  and  faithful  Christian  men  ; 
but  thus  far  a  man  of  aggressive  ability,  having 
the  qualifications  of  an  organizer  and  a  leader, 
such  as  we  have  in  the  German  and  Swedish 
Missions,  has  been  wanting.  France  must  be 
evangelized,  like  every  other  country,  substan- 
tially, under  God,  by  her  own  sons.  And,  when 
the  appointed  time  arrives,  the  work  will  go  on 


CONCLUDING    THOUGHTS.  303 

with  quickened  imp.ulse.  God  will  provide  for 
himself  a  leader.  Romanism  is,  if  possible,  a 
greater  obstacle  to  the  gospel  than  paganism 
itself  ;  and  France  is  fearfully  over-ridden  by  that 
ruinous  and  fatal  delusion.  But  "the  Man  of 
Sin "  is  not  "  stronger  than  the  Strong  Man 
armed ,  '  and  in  God's  good  time  the  land  once 
crimsoned  by  the  blood  of  martyrs,  and  that 
echoed  to  their  hymns  of  triumph,  will  again  bow 
to  the  sway  of  Immanuel. 


No.   XIX. 

THE   GERMAN   MISSION. 

Boundaries  of  the  Work.  —  Beginning  of  the  Work.  —  Baptism  of 
Mr.  Oncken.  —  Engaged  as  a  Missionary.  —  Early  Labors.  —  New 
Hall.  —  Church  in  Berlin.  —  Progress  of  the  Work.  —  Persecu- 
tion begun.  —  Mrs.  Judson's  Memoir  in  Germany.  —  Beginning 
in  Denmark.  —  Mr.  Oncken's  Repeated  Imprisonments.  —  The 
Work  Onward.  —  Efforts  to  secure  Toleration.  —  Religious  Peri- 
odical Literature.  —  The  Gospel  in  Austria  and  Hungary.  —  As- 
sociations and  Triennial  Conference.  —  School  for  Preachers.  — 
Russia  added  to  the  Field. — Mr.  Oncken's  Visit  to  America. — 
Swedish  Christians  baptized  in  Germany. — Want  of  Chapels. — 
In  the  Regions  beyond.  —  Hamburg's  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary. 
—  Relying  on  Themselves.  —  Dedication  in  Berlin.  —  The  King 
invited  to  be  Present.  —  Movement  for  South  Africa.  —  Turkey.  — 
New  Chapel  in  Hamburg.  —  Bulgaria.  —  Mission  from  Hamburg 
to  China.  —  The  Work  in  Austria.  —  How  it  began  in  Turkey.  — 
In  Four  Quarters  of  the  Globe.  —  A  Te  Deum,  —  The  Prussian 
Parliament.  —  Baptists  in  Russia.  —  The  Work  in  Tifiis.  —  Moixnt 
Ararat.  —  Conclusion. 

THE  mission  in  Germany  embraces  the 
work  aided  by  the  Missionary  Union,  not 
only  in  the  German  States,  but  also  in  Holland, 
Denmark,  Hungary,  Russia,  Poland,  and  Tur- 
key. This  work  was  not  sought  by  the  Union 
as  an  enterprise  planned  by  human  foresight. 
It  was  providentially  thrust  upon  the  hands  of 
American  Baptists,  like  the  Burman  Mission  in 
1 8 14.  Without  seeking  it,  they  were  made  the 
leaders  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  effec- 

304 


BAPTISM  OF  MR.   ONCKEN.  305 

tive  missionary  undertakings  of  this  or  any 
other  age.  The  work  was  God's,  and  it  was 
God^s  set  time. 

The  work  had  its  commencement  in  the  per- 
son of  Rev.  John  Gerard  Oncken,  who  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Varel,  in  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Oldenburg,  Jan.  26,  1800.  Having  become 
a  Christian  in  early  life,  he  was  commissioned 
i)y  the  British  Continental  Society  in  1823  to 
preach  the  gospel  as  he  had  opportunity  along 
the  shores  of  the  German  Ocean,  in  Hamburg, 
Bremen,  and  East  Friesland.  He  served  as  a 
missionary  of  this  Society  till  1828,  and  then 
became  agent  of  the  Edinburgh  Bible  Society, 
in  whose  service  he  labored  on  the  Continent 
till  he  received  the  appointment  of  the  Mission- 
ary Union.  Doors  were  thrown  open  to  him 
everywhere,  and  many  were  converted. 

Influenced  solely  by  a  faithful  study  of  the 
New  Testament,  Mr.  Oncken  was  led  to  the 
conviction  that  the  principles  of  the  Baptist 
churches  are  the  principles  taught  in  the  word 
of  God.  Soon  after  he  had  reached  this  con- 
viction. Professor  Barnas  Sears,  then  of  the 
Hamilton  Literary  and  Theological  Institution, 
visited  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  study  at  the 
German  universities.  He  became  acquainted 
providentially  with  a  little  company  of  believers 
in  the  city  of  Hamburg,  who  held  the  same 
views  with  Mr.  Oncken.  On  the  night  of 
April  22,  1834,  these  seven  believers  were  bap- 
tized in  the  waters  of  the  Elbe  at  Altona,  near 
Hamburg,  in  the  kingdom  of  Hanover.  The 
spirit  of  intolerance  did  not  permit  the   ordi- 


3o6  THE   GERMAN  MISSION. 

nance  to  be  administered  at  Hamburg,  or  under 
the  light  of  day.  On  the  following  day  these 
Christians  were  organized  into  a  church,  and 
shortly  afterwards  Mr.  Oncken  was  ordained 
their  pastor. 

Mr.  Oncken  entered  on  the  service  of  the 
Missionary  Union  Sept.  25,  1834.  He  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  distinguished  individuals  of 
the  Evangelical  party,  and  his  baptism  caused  a 
great  sensation  wherever  his  name  was  known. 
The  church  was  noted  for  Christian  activity 
from  the  beginning ;  and  the  male  members 
were  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  different  dis- 
tricts of  the  city  and  the  shipping  in  the  har- 
bor, for  the  purpose  of  distributing  Bibles  and 
tracts. 

The  first  German  assistant  was  Mr.  C.  F. 
Lange,  the  fruit  of  Mr.  Oncken's  missionary 
labors  ten  years  previously.  He  engaged  at 
first  in  the  work  of  a  colporter.  A  small  room 
was  hired  in  Hamburg,  in  which  public  worship 
was  conducted  Sunday,  and  meetings  for  prayer 
and  instruction  in  the  Bible  were  held  on  other 
days  of  the  week.  The  church  increased  with 
a  rapidity  which  surpassed  the  hopes  of  the 
laborers.  In  1836  fourteen  were  baptized,  in- 
cluding two  persons  of  the  Jewish  faith,  one  of 
whom,  Mr.  Koebner,  has  for  many  years  filled 
an  important  place  in  the  operations  of  the 
mission,  and  still  lives,  the  talented  and  useful 
pastor  of  the  church  in  Copenhagen.  Much 
good  was  effected  by  the  system  of  loan-tract 
distribution,  in  which  sixteen  male  and  several 
female  members  of  the  church  were  engaged. 


PROGRESS  OF   THE    WORK.  307 

A  tract  loaned  to  an  individual  or  a  family  im- 
plied a  second  visit,  and  opened  the  way  for 
religious  conversation  with  the  receiver. 

This  year  a  hall  for  worship  was  secured, 
capable  of  holding  three  hundred  hearers.  In 
1837  there  were  several  converts  in  Oldenburg. 
In  April  Mr.  Oncken  visited  Berlin,  and  con- 
ducted worship  for  several  weeks.  On  the  13th 
of  May  he  baptized  Mr.  George  W.  Lehmann, 
with  his  wife  and  four  others,  and  organized  the 
church  in  Berlin,  of  which  Mr.  Lehmann  was 
ordained  pastor,  and  has  continued  in  that  office 
more  than  forty  years.  This  has  proved  to  be 
one  of  the  largest,  strongest,  and  most  impor- 
tant Baptist  churches  in  Germany.  A  church 
was  also  organized  in  Oldenburg,  Sept.  10,  1838, 
with  thirteen  members  and  a  pastor;  and  in 
October,  one  in  Stuttgart,  with  twenty-three 
members. 

Thus  within  a  little  more  than  four  years 
from  the  commencement  of  the  mission,  there 
were  four  churches  and  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-one members.  During  the  year  1838,  twenty- 
five  were  baptized  in  connection  with  the  church 
in  Hamburg,  raising  the  original  seven  to  sev- 
enty-five. The  ordinance,  on  account  of  govern- 
ment restrictions,  was  administered  on  Hanove- 
rian territory.  Several  had  also  been  baptized 
at  Marburg,  in  Hesse,  and  at  Jever.  In  a  sin- 
gle visit  Mr.  Oncken  baptized  twenty-three  at 
Stuttgart,  in  Wurtemburg,  a  place  to  which  he 
had  been  specially  invited  by  an  intelligent  and 
educated  gentleman,  who  had  heard  of  the 
character  of  the  mission,  and  sympathized  with 


3o8  THE   GERMAN  MISSION. 

its  objects.  Each  of  the  churches  thus  far 
forward  found  a  pastor  among  its  own  mem 
bers,  generally  a  person  of  some  intelligence 
and  education,  whom  they  elected  to  be  or- 
dained and  set  over  them  in  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel. 

The  rise  of  a  new  body  of  Christians,  united 
in  a  solemn  and  earnest  protest  against  some 
of  the  practices  of  the  National  Church,  at- 
tracted at  once  the  official  notice  of  the  leading 
Lutherans,  and  of  the  magistrates  who  were 
bound  to  see  that  the  national  religion  was  de- 
fended from  any  opposition.  The  earliest  open 
attempt  to  restrict  the  labors  of  Mr.  Oncken 
and  his  associates  was  in  September,  1837. 
Eight  persons  had  just  been  baptized,  and  ad- 
mitted to  the  church  in  Hamburg.  Complaint 
was  made  to  the  head  of  the  Lutheran  clergy 
in  the  city,  by  whom  the  police  were  directed 
to  prevent  any  further  proceedings  on  the  part 
of  the  Baptist  brethren.  Orders  to  the  same 
effect  were  issued  by  the  Senate  of  Hamburg, 
and  Mr.  Oncken  and  several  of  his  brethren 
were  summoned  before  the  magistrates,  and 
questioned  carefully  concerning  their  proceed- 
ings and  their  faith,  especially  regarding  bap- 
tism ;  but  no  final  order  was  taken  against 
them,  and  their  meetings  were  continued  with 
a  fuller  attendance  and  greater  interest  than 
before.  A  larger  place  of  worship  was  obtained, 
and  the  police  offered  few  interruptions.  But 
in  April,  1839,  the  Senate  again  undertook  to 
suppress  these  evangelical  labors,  and  issued  a 
decree   summoning   Mr.  Oncken  and  his  asso- 


rERSECUTION  BEGUN. 


309 


ciates  before  the  tribunal,  and  commanding  the 
chief  of  police  "  to  inform  the  said  Oncken  that 
the  Senate  neither  acknowledges  the  society 
which  he  denominates  the  Baptist  church,  nor 
himself  as  its  preacher ;  that,  on  the  contrary, 
the  Senate  can  only  view  it  as  a  criminal 
schism,  of  which  he  is  the  sole  author."  The 
magistrate  was  further  directed  "to  prohibit 
him  from  all  further  exercise  of  his  unauthor- 
ized and  unrecognized  ministerial  functions," 
and  also  to  prohibit  his  associates  "from  ^11 
further  participation  in  the  same  culpable  and 
unlawful  proceedings."  But  the  members  of  the 
church  immediately  sent  a  petition  and  remon- 
strance to  the  Senate,  which  was  seconded  by 
an  address  from  the  members  of  the  Board  and 
other  persons  in  the  United  States,  praying  that 
Mr.  Oncken  and  his  associates  might  be  allowed 
the  exercise  of  freedom  of  faith  and  of  worship. 
The  Senate  had  issued  its  decree ;  but  the 
church  continued  to  hold  meetings  unmolested 
for  several  months.  At  length,  however,  in 
May,  1840,  Mr.  Oncken  was  arrested  and  cast 
into  prison,  charged  with  having  "  continued  to 
preach,  baptize,  and  administer  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, according  to  his  own  confession,  notwith- 
standing the  prohibition  of  the  authorities." 
One  of  the  members  of  the  church  was  im- 
prisoned for  allowing  a  meeting  at  his  house; 
and  one  of  his  assistants  was  arrested  while 
preaching,  and  the  police  dispersed  the  congre- 
gation. Mr.  Oncken'simprisonm  ent  continued 
for  four  weeks  in  circumstances. of  great  suffer- 
ing and  privation,  and  on  his  being  set  free  his 


3IO  THE   GERMAN  MISSION. 

furniture  was  sold  by  the  police  in  order  to 
defray  the  charges  of  his  arrest  and  his  keeping 
while  in  prison.  Besides  forbidding  Mr.  Oncken 
to  adminster  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  a 
decree  was  passed  forbidding  any  one  to  attend 
his  family  worship  excepting  his  own  household. 

Memorials  were  addressed  to  the  Senate  of 
Hamburg  by  the  Board,  and  by  various  bodies 
of  distinguished  individuals  in  the  United 
States  and  England,  one  of  the  latter  bearing 
five  thousand  signatures,  in  behalf  of  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  brethren.  The  president  of  the 
United  States  also,  through  the  American  con- 
sul, caused  representations  to  be  made,  which 
resulted  in  great  advantage  to  the  persecuted 
missionaries  and  their  people,  so  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church  in  Hamburg  have  enjoyed 
from  that  time  freedom  from  official  annoyance. 

Persecution  was  not  confined  to  the  church 
in  Hamburg,  but  extended  to  almost  every 
place  where  the  word  was  preached  by  the  Bap- 
tists, and  the  ordinances  administered  after  the 
pattern  of  the  New  Testament.  In  Oldenburg, 
Berlin,  Stuttgart,  Bavaria,  Pomerania,  and  the 
kingdom  of  Hanover,  the  brethren  had  trials 
of  cruel  mockings,  and  of  bonds  and  imprison- 
ment. The  ministers  were  thrown  into  jails, 
and  fined.  The  assemblies  were  scattered  by 
the  police.  The  members  were  compelled  to 
bring  their  children  for  baptism  to  the  priests 
of  the  National  Church,  and  were  punished  for 
their  participation  in  the  so-called  heresies  of 
the  ministers  who  in  obedience  to  Divine  com- 
mand had  forsaken  the  National  Church,  and 


BEGINNING  IN  DENMARK.  311 

made  conscience  of  worshipping  God  according 
to  their  own  convictions  of  New  Testament 
teaching.  In  Berlin  baptisms  in  the  open  air 
were  prohibited.  In  portions  of  Hanover  some 
were  imprisoned ;  the  property  of  others  was 
confiscated.  At  Marburg,  in  Hesse,  the  disci- 
ples were  fined  and  banished.  In  Bavaria  they 
were  forced  to  meet  in  great  secrecy. 

But  in  the  mean  time  the  word  of  God  grew 
and  multiplied.  The  memoir  of  the  first  Mrs. 
Judson  was  translated  into  German  ;  and  through 
the  liberality  of  friends  in  America  an  edition 
of  five  thousand  was  put  in  circulation,  —  the 
mission  in  one  quarter  of  the  globe  thus  help- 
ing and  blessing  the  mission  in  another  quarter. 
Mr.  Koebner  visited  Denmark  and  Holstein, 
and  began  a  work  which  soon  bore  fruit  in  the 
formation  of  a  church.  More  than  eighty  vil- 
lages were  visited  in  Mecklenburg.  Several 
places  in  Bavaria  heard  the  Word  in  its  purity 
and  power.  One  of  the  brethren  found  his  way 
with  the  Divine  message  to  various  parts  of 
Prussia,  Hanover,  and  Saxony  :  he  was  twice 
imprisoned  in  his  tour,  and  compelled  at  last  to 
return  to  his  native  town. 

A  church  was  organized  in  Copenhagen  in 
1839,  and  stated  meetings  held  in  other  places 
in  Denmark.  But  the  hand  of  persecution  was 
stretched  out  over  this  kingdom,  as  it  had  been 
over  Hamburg  and  Prussia.  Rev.  Peter  Moen- 
ster,  the  pastor,  was  sentenced  to  ten  weeks' 
imprisonment  for  preaching,  and  administering 
baptism,  and  then  banished.  But  while  he  was 
in   prison   the  meetings  were  still  held  in  his 


312  THE   GERMAN  MISSION. 

house,  and  two  or  three  hundred  attended.  The 
same  servant  of  God,  with  his  brother,  Rev. 
Adolph  Moenster,  was  afterwards  confined  in 
prison  for  an  entire  year. 

In  1840  there  had  been  organized  in  four  of 
the  German  States,  and  Denmark,  six  churches, 
numbering  about  two  hundred  members.  In 
1 84 1  the  number  of  churches  had  risen  to  four- 
teen, with  three  hundred  and  fifty  members. 
Mr.  Oncken  was  first  imprisoned  May  13,  1839; 
immediately  after  he  was  set  free,  he  preached 
in  his  own  house  to  large  collections  of  people. 
In  1 841  he  was  arrested  a  second  time  while  he 
was  preaching  in  Altona,  but  was  shortly  after- 
wards set  at  liberty.  In  May,  1843,  he  was 
again  imprisoned  for  administering  the  ordi- 
nances, but  was  released  after  four  days,  on 
application  made  to  the  Senate.  In  1851  he 
was  expelled  from  Berlin,  after  having  labored 
but  a  single  Sabbath. 

But  the  policy  of  intolerance  gradually  gave 
way,  and  a  better  spirit  prevailed.  The  powers 
of  this  world  learned  to  look  more  graciously 
upon  men  and  women  of  pure  life,  whose  only 
fault  was  that  they  desired  to  conform  their 
practice,  according  to  their  own  convictions,  to 
the  revealed  will  of  God.  Still,  as  the  thunder 
continues  to  roll  in  the  distant  horizon,  and  the 
lightning  to  glitter,  after  the  fury  of  the  storm 
is  passed,  so  the  spirit  of  persecution  continued 
for  many  years  to  mutter  in  various  places  in 
Germany,  and  even  yet,  in  some  remote  portions 
of  the  field,  is  not  wholly  stilled. 

In  1842  fifty  were  baptized  in  Hamburg,  and 


RELIGIOUS  PERIODICAL   LITERATURE.  313 

the  number  of  church-members  increased  to 
160.  The  members  in  Denmark  numbered  179, 
of  whom  1 19  were  in  Copenhagen.  In  August 
of  this  year,  Rev.  Professors  Hackett  and  Co- 
nant,  residing  temporarily  in  Europe  for  the 
purpose  of  study,  arrived  in  Copenhagen  as  a 
deputation  from  the  Board,  and  met  and  con- 
sulted with  several  government  officers  and  per- 
sons of  influence  in  respect  to  toleration ;  and 
valuable  concessions  were  obtained.  Mr.  Onck- 
en  visited  England  for  the  purpose  of  making 
known  the  condition  of  the  persecuted  brethren  ; 
and  a  deputation  from  the  English  Baptists  in 
return  visited  the  King  of  Denmark  to  present 
still  further  memorials  in  their  behalf.  Similar 
certificates  were  sent  from  the  United  States. 
The  gentlemen  composing  the  deputation  were 
introduced  to  the  Court  by  the  British  plenipo- 
tentiary ;  and  they  were  aided  in  their  efforts  to 
secure  religious  freedom  by  Joseph  John  Gur- 
ney  and  his  sister,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Fry,  two  phil- 
anthropic and  distinguished  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  At  last  an  act  of  amnesty 
was  granted,  apparently  as  a  concession,  but  it 
was  practically  of  little  value. 

In  January,  1844  2.  missionary  periodical  in 
pamphlet  form,  called  the  "  Missionsblatt "  (''  Mis- 
sionary Paper  "),  was  commenced  at  Hamburg, 
and  has  been  continued  till  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1879.  At  its  commencement  the  laws  re- 
quired that  it  should  contain  only  communica- 
tions relating  to  missions  in  foreign  countries. 
In  1864  it  was  enlarged  from  sixteen  to  thirty- 
two   pages.     It   was  under  the  editorial  care  of 


314  THE   GERMAN  MISSION, 

Mr.  Oiicken  and  his  fellow-laborers  until  1867, 
when  Mr.  Joseph  Lehmann  assumed  the  charge. 
Another  paper,  the  "  Zionsbote"  ("  Zion's  Mes- 
senger"), was  commenced  in  Hamburg  in  the 
year  1865,  by  Mr.  William  Oncken.  The  two 
were  merged  in  January,  1879,  i^to  a  new  paper, 
*' Der  Wahrheitszeuge  "  (''The  Witness  to  the 
Truth"),  to  be  edited  by  Mr.  P.  W.  Bickel,  for- 
merly editor  of  the  '*  Sendbote,"  in  Cleveland, 
O.  A  third  paper,  "  Der  Pilger "  ('The  Pil- 
grim"), has  been  published  several  years  in  the 
interest  of  the  Middle  and  South  German  Asso- 
ciation. 

In  1 844  Mr.  Koebner  received  ordination.  In 
the  beginning  of  1845  there  were  17  preachers 
and  assistants,  26  churches,  and  nearly  i,5CXD 
members.  Mr.  Oncken  visited  Holland  and 
East  Friesland,  baptizing  in  various  places. 
Churches  were  organized  in  Bremen,  Stettin, 
and  Baden,  and  three  others  in  Holland.  Great 
alleviation,  and  in  some  instances  cessation  of 
persecution,  was  enjoyed.  In  1846  many  tracts 
were  published  and  put  in  circulation  in  the 
German,  Dutch,  Danish,  and  Polish  languages. 
A  hall  for  worship  was  completed  in  Hamburg 
in  1847,  capable  of  accommodating  six  hundred 
hearers.  This  year  the  church  at  its  own  ex- 
pense sent  two  brethren  into  Hungary  and  Aus- 
tria to  carry  the  word  of  life,  and  converts  were 
baptized  at  Pesth  and  Vienna.  Two  churches 
were  formed  in  Switzerland.  The  Revolution  in 
France  of  1848  tended  to  promote  freedom  and 
religious  toleration  in  Germany  also ;  and  thus 
the  political  events  of  the  times  were  favorable 
to  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 


RUSSIA   ADDED    TO    THE  FIELD.         315 

At  first  the  converts  in  Germany  were  num- 
bered by  units  ;  then  by  tens  ;  then  by  scores. 
By  and  by  the  members  were  formed  into 
churches,  and  before  1849  the  churches  were 
combined  into  Associations.  The  Associations, 
the  North-western,  the  Prussian,  the  Middle  and 
Southern,  to  which  the  Danish  was  added  later, 
in  January,  1849,  were  formed  into  the  Triennial 
Conference,  the  first  meeting  of  which  was  held 
in  Hamburg,  Jan.  17-26.  The  sessions  since 
have  all  been  in  Hamburg. 

The  Prussian  Association  at  its  organization 
consisted  of  delegates  from  seven  churches,  and 
commenced  its  active  existence  by  supporting  a 
missionary  to  Silesia.  About  this  time,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  political  revolution  in  Prussia, 
all  religious  sects  secured  perfect  equality,  and 
missionaries  were  able  to  travel  everywhere  un- 
molested. The  baptisms  of  this  year  were  453, 
and  the  whole  number  of  members,  2,800. 
Chapels  were  erected  in  four  important  centres 
in  Prussia.  Mr.  Oncken  visited  Scotland  to 
obtain  aid  in  paying  the  debt  on  various  chapels, 
and  secured  about  four  thousand  dollars. 

In  185 1  there  were  thirty-two  churches  in 
Germany,  including  fourteen  in  Prussia,  five  in 
Denmark,  and  two  in  Switzerland.  A  school 
for  the  instruction  of  preachers  had  been  main- 
tained in  Hamburg  three  years,  being  in  session 
from  May  to  November,  chiefly  under  the  in- 
struction of  Mr.  Koebner. 

This  year,  for  the  first  time,  the  work  of  the 
mission  extended  into  Russia,  Lithuania,  and 
among   the    Silesian    Mountains.      During   the 


31 6  THE   GERMAN  MISSION. 

first  seventeen  years  of  the  mission,  410,036 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  distributed  by 
the  members,  and  6,237,951  tracts,  of  which 
record  had  been  kept,  besides  probably  number- 
less others  of  which  no  account  was  taken. 
Who  can  calculate  the  broad  harvest  from  so 
broad  a  seed-sowing  ? 

In  May,  1853,  by  invitation  of  the  Committee, 
Mr.  Oncken  visited  the  United  States,  and  re- 
mained fifteen  months.  He  travelled  exten- 
sively in  the  North-western  States  among  his 
fellow-countrymen  and  others,  besides  forming 
acquaintance  with  the  friends  of  missions  in  the 
older  States.  It  was  on  that  memorable  journey 
that  the  famous  Norwalk  accident  in  Connecti- 
cut occurred,  and  Mr.  Oncken  was  on  the  rail- 
road-train which  plunged  from  the  open  draw 
of  the  bridge,  into  the  river  below.  Many  were 
seriously  injured,  and  several  killed  ;  but  Mr. 
Oncken's  precious  life  was  preserved.  He  re- 
ceived, however,  an  injury  to  his  foot  and  ankle, 
which  disabled  him  for  many  weeks.  He  was 
the  guest  of  the  Hon.  Ira  Harris  during  the 
meetings  of  the  Union  this  year,  and  was  able 
to  attend  a  portion  of  the  sessions.  It  was  at 
that  time  the  important  discussion  occurred  in 
reference  to  the  Teloogoo  Mission,  then  and 
there  first  called  "  The  Lone  Star  Mission  ; " 
and  doubtless  as  a  member  of  the  Union  his 
was  among  the  votes  that  determined  its  con- 
tinuance. 

The  appeals  of  Mr.  Oncken  for  the  German 
Mission  were  so  urgent,  and  the  necessities  so 
pressing  in  this  wide  field,  ripe  for  the  harvest, 


SWEDISH  CHRISTIANS  BAPTIZED,      317 

that  the  Committee  voted  to  aid  the  mission  in 
erecting  chapels  to  the  extent  of  eight  thousand 
dollars  a  year  for  five  years. 

In  1854  two  brethren  from  Sweden  visited 
Hamburg,  asking  to  be  baptized,  and  empow- 
ered to  administer  the  ordinance  to  others.  So 
the  mission  to  Germany  became  in  an  impor- 
tant sense  the  mother  of  a  new  mission,  and  one 
of  the  most  effective  and  prosperous  in  Europe. 
The  number  of  baptisms  reported  this  year  was 
693,  and  the  total  of  members,  5,049.  In  1855, 
in  a  revival-season  in  Berlin,  many  children  were 
hopefully  converted.  The  church  in  Memel,  the 
extreme  eastern  point  of  Prussia,  had  grown 
strong  enough  to  entertain  the  Prussian  Asso- 
ciation at  its  annual  meeting,  when  a  resolution 
was  passed  to  aid  the  Missionary  Union  in  its 
work  among  the  heathen,  to  the  amount  of  at 
least  one  hundred  Prussian  dollars.  This  year 
the  Lord's  Supper  was  first  administered  to  the 
Lithuanians  in  their  own  language ;  thirteen 
converts  were  baptized,  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age,  and  Mr.  Albrecht  was  or- 
dained their  minister.  Several  Missionary  So- 
cieties were  organized. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  increase  of  num-- 
bers,  the  churches,  gathered  mainly  from  the 
poor  of  this  world,  were  compelled  to  hold  their 
meetings  in  private  rooms  or  in  halls,  often 
small  and  inconvenient.  Of  seventy  churches 
in  1856,  only  eight  had  regular  chapels:  the 
residue  had  fitted  up  houses,  shops,  warehouses, 
or  the  homes  of  some  of  the  members.  Several 
new  churches  were  constituted  in  the  course  of 


3l8  THE   GERMAN  MISSION. 

the  year,  one  of  them  in  Varel,  Mr.  Oncken's 
native  town.  A  church  constituted  in  1837,  on 
the  shore  of  the  German  Ocean,  in  these  twenty- 
years  had  sent  out  four  colonies.  Two  chapels 
were  dedicated,  and  tracts  were  carried  into 
Bohemia. 

The  year  1857  was  marked  by  still  further 
advancement.  Mr.  Oncken  visited  England  to 
make  collections  for  missionary  work  and  the 
building  of  chapels.  An  awakening  commenced 
on  the  Polish  frontiers,  the  fruit  of  tract-distri- 
bution. There  was  also  a  revival  at  Templin, 
and  during  the  year  one  hundred  and  forty-three 
were  baptized.  Several  new  tracts  were  trans- 
lated into  Lithuanian.  The  church  at  Memel, 
recognizing  the  obligation  of  Christians  to  work 
for  others  as  well  as  for  themselves,  supported, 
besides  their  pastor,  two  missionaries,  to  carry 
the  gospel  to  those  who  were  calling,  "Come 
over  and  help  us." 

In  1858  there  were  numerous  awakenings  in 
Poland,  on  the  border  of  Russia,  the  beginning 
of  that  great  work  which  has  since  resulted  in 
the  baptism  of  thousands.  The  church  in  Ham- 
burg was  recognized  by  the  Senate  of  that  city 
as  a  religious  corporation,  and  Denmark  had 
enjoyed  religious  liberty  since  1850. 

On  the  23d  of  April,  1859,  ^^^  church  in 
Hamburg  celebrated  the  twenty-fifth  anniver- 
sary of  its  existence.  It  was  a  rare  occasion, 
well  fitted  to  call  forth  the  exclamation,  "What 
hath  God  wrought !  "  The  original  seven  had 
grown  to  seven  thousand,  and  stretched  across 
the  German  States  from  the  North  Sea  to  Rus- 


WANT  OF  CHAPELS.  319 

sia,  from  the  Baltic  well-nigh  to  Italy.  The 
days  of  persecution  were  substantially  ended, 
and  the  gospel  "free  as  air"  was  permitted  to 
be  carried  to  every  part  of  the  German  States. 
And,  through  the  messengers  of  God's  truth,  in 
all  Germany  the  gospel  had  been  preached 
everywhere,  '*  the  Lord  working  with  them,  and 
confirming  the  word  with  signs  following." 

The  church  in  Hamburg  received  additions 
by  baptism  every  year  for  the  first  twenty-six 
years:  the  smallest,  five,  in  1835;  the  largest, 
121,  in  1850:  total,  1,317;  average,  between 
50  and  51,  or  nearly  one  for  every  Sunday  dur- 
ing all  that  period. 

The  Committee  now  proposed  to  withdraw 
from  Germany,  leaving  the  cause  to  the  care  of 
the  brethren  and  of  God ;  but,  on  account  of 
the  earnest  representations  of  the  German  pas- 
tors, this  decision  was  (Relayed.  The  German 
Committee  now  determined  to  collect  funds  to 
build  twenty-one  chapels  at  the  most  necessary 
points,  and  Mr.  Lehmann  collected  in  England 
about  five  thousand  dollars  for  this  purpose. 
Eighteen  young  men  were  instructed  in  theol- 
ogy seven  months  in  Hamburg,  with  a  view  to 
the  ministry;  and  twelve  of  them  were  or- 
dained on  Lord's  Day,  Sept.  12,  an  answer  to 
the  prayer,  **  Send  forth  laborers  into  the  har- 
vest." At  Memel  twenty-two  Lithuanians  were 
baptized.  So  highly  did  these  people  prize 
the  privileges  of  worship,  that  some  of  their 
women  were  in  the  habit  of  travelling  twelve 
miles  every  Sunday  to  be  present  in  the  house 
of  prayer.     The  work  made  progress  in  Russia. 


320  THE  GERMAN  MISSION. 

Fifty-three  Poles  were  baptized.  Five  Hunga- 
rians, baptized  at  Hamburg  in  1845,  formed  a 
Tract  Society,  and  printed  three  thousand  tracts 
for  distribution. 

The  churches  had  increased  in  i860  to  66  in 
number,  the  out-stations  and  preaching-places 
to  855,  and  the  members  to  8,935.  The  Danish 
churches  enjoyed  entire  religious  liberty.  The 
gospel  this  year  gained  its  first  triumphs  among 
the  Lettish  people  in  Kurland,  Russia;  and  thus 
another  tribe  learned  in  their  own  tongue  the 
wonderful  works  of  God. 

On  the  loth  of  November,  1861,  the  present 
chapel  in  Berlin  was  dedicated.  In  contrast  to 
the  days  of  persecution,  —  when  worship  must 
be  held  in  secret,  and  baptisms  could  be  admin- 
istered only  under  cover  of  the  night,  for  fear  of 
the  magistrates,  —  to  this  ceremony  the  King 
and  Queen,  the  Prince  and  Princess  Royal, 
were  expressly  invited,  and  a  deputation  was 
present  from  the  city  council,  clad  in  their  offi- 
cial insignia.  The  Lord  God  had  blessed  his 
people  with  peace.  Two  churches  were  organ- 
ized in  Poland,  and  the  registry  of  baptisms  in 
all  the  field  for  the  year  1861  was  1,877. 

The  church  in  Berlin  celebrated  its  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  May  15,  1862,  in  connection 
with  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Prussian  As- 
sociation. A  second  Lithuanian  church  was 
formed  June  24.  In  1863  the  gospel  penetrat- 
ed into  Wallachia ;  240  were  baptized  in  Russia, 
and  400  in  Poland.  There  was  much  persecu- 
tion in  Russia  ;  and  Mr.  Alf,  the  Polish  mission- 
ary, again  suffered  imprisonment. 


IN  THE  REGIONS  BEYOND.  321 

In  1865  it  was  proposed  by  the  brethren  in 
Germany  to  send  a  missionary  to  a  body  of 
German  colonists  in  South  Africa,  in  British 
Caffraria, — a  movement  crowned  with  such 
success  that  in  five  years  the  number  of  church- 
members  in  that  country  had  reached  four  hun- 
dred, with  sixteen  stations  and  out-stations. 
This  year  twenty-six  young  men  studied  for 
the  ministry  at  Hamburg,  and  fourteen  of  them 
were  ordained  the  last  Sunday  in  July,  and  sent 
forth  to  their  work.  This  year  also  the  Danish 
Association  was  formed.  In  every  part  of  the 
field  it  was  a  year  of  great  enlargement.  Some 
of  the  brethren,  exiled  from  Russia  by  the  hand 
of  persecution,  took  refuge  in  Turkey,  where 
several  believers,  as  if  by  a  Divine  admonition, 
became  enlightened  on  the  subject  of  baptism, 
though  they  knew  nothing  of  the  existence  of 
Baptists  in  Germany,  and  were  almost  ready  to 
believe  there  was  not  a  Baptist  in  the  world  ex- 
cept Mr.  Spurgeon.  In  the  mountains  of  Bul- 
garia twenty-two  converts  were  baptized  by 
pioneer  missionaries  sent  out  from  Hamburg. 

The  war  in  1866  interrupted  the  regular  work 
of  the  mission  ;  but  the  armies  opened  a  new 
field  for  Christian  activity.  In  fields  of  peace- 
ful labor,  Mr.  Oncken  wrote  that  the  general 
aspect  of  the  mission  was  never  before  so  en- 
couraging. A  new  chapel  was  commenced  in 
Hamburg,  which  was  dedicated  Aug.  11,  1867. 
The  church  in  Memel  celebrated  its  twenty-fifth 
anniversary,  Oct.  7-9  ;  at  the  Lord's  Supper  at 
the  close,  prayer  was  offered  in  three  languages, 
—  German,  Lettish,  and  Lithuanian,  —  and  the 


322  THE  GERMAN  MISSION. 

three-days*  festival  had  for  its  crowning  service 
the  ordination  of  a  minister  for  Russia.  In 
Middle  Russia  three  churches  were  reported, 
numbering  857  members.  The  gospel  is  more 
than  a  form  among  these  converts.  It  was  said 
by  a  missionary  in  Bulgaria,  that  in  one  village 
a  person  passing  along  the  streets  at  any  time 
could  hear  the  sound  of  prayer.  The  church- 
members  in  Turkey  had  increased  to  one  hun- 
dred. 

In  the  year  i  ZGy  two  young  brethren  received 
the  approbation  of  the  Triennial  Conference  as 
missionaries, — one  for  China,  the  other  for 
South  Africa.  The  missionary  to  China  reached 
his  field  early  in  1870;  but  in  1875,  on  account 
of  the  failure  of  his  health,  he  returned  to  Ger- 
many, and  the  funds  designated  for  China  were 
transferred  to  the  work  in  Russia. 

The  largest  church  in  connection  with  the 
German  Mission  was  at  Memel,  numbering 
1,524  members,  many  of  them  residing  in  Rus- 
sia. The  hand  of  persecution  in  Poland  was 
still  stretched  out  to  vex  the  brethren.  In  1868 
the  work  extended  to  Tifiis,  in  Caucasia,  where 
several  were  baptized.  The  ordinance  was 
administered  three  times  during  the  year  in 
Bulgaria,  and  once  in  Bosnia,  The  novel  cere- 
mony was  witnessed  in  the  former  instances  by 
Turks,  Russians,  and  other  spectators.  In 
Middle  Russia  baptism  was  administered  at 
noonday  in  the  presence  of  hundreds,  without 
molestation.  In  four  months  more  than  three 
hundred  were  admitted  to  the  churches,  "so 
mightily  grew  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  pre- 


THE   WORK  IN  TURKEY.  323 

vailed."  The  meetings  were  so  full  that  no 
building  could  contain  them,  and  of  necessity- 
resort  was  had  to  the  open  air. 

The  first  church  in  the  Netherlands  was  or- 
ganized in  Haarlem,  Sept.  5,  1869.  In  Austria 
a  Bible  colporter  found  in  one  place  sixteen 
persons  who,  though  surrounded  by  Catholics, 
maintained  an  evangelical  faith.  So  highly  did 
they  prize  the  Bible,  that  a  copy  of  it  was  divid- 
ed into  several  parts,  and  a  few  leaves  given 
to  each.  Some  of  the  children  walked  on  Sun- 
day a  distance  of  three  or  four  hours  to  learn 
to  read  them.  No  Protestant  had  ever  visited 
them  before.  This  year  a  union  was  proposed 
of  the  three  churches  in  Southern  Russia  into 
a  Russian  Association.  Whole  number  in  the 
three  churches,  535.  Many  new  converts  were 
reported  in  Russia,  both  German  emigrants  and 
native  Russians.  In  the  autumn  Mr.  Oncken 
visited  Russia,  Turkey,  Roumania,  Austria, 
Transylvania,  and  Hungary. 

The  story  of  the  introduction  of  the  gospel 
into  Turkey  is  interesting.  In  the  years  1865,  '6, 
ten  families  residing  in  Russia  were  banished 
from  the  country,  and  others  left  it  of  their  own 
accord,  because  it  was  impossible  for  them  to 
live  as  believers  in  Russia.  They  crossed 
the  boundary  into  Turkey.  A  revival  followed 
through  the  efforts  of  these  emigrants ;  infant- 
baptism  was  no  more  mentioned ;  the  German 
Lutheran  chapels  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Baptists,  and  the  church-bell  is  now  rung  to 
call  the  whole  population  to  Divine  service. 

At    the    eighth   Triennial    Conference,    held 


324  THE  GERMAN  MISSION, 

July  6-14,  1870,  attended  by  more  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty  delegates,  the  German 
Baptists  were  reported  to  have  entered  all  the 
quarters  of  the  globe.  The  tidings  from  Rus- 
sia were  particularly  interesting,  leading  the 
whole  assembly  to  break  forth  in  one  Te  Deiim 
together,  the  Gerrrian  and  English  brethren 
singing  together  in  one  harmonious  melody 
known  to  both  nations.  During  the  three  years 
1867-69,  the  number  of  baptisms  was  5,346. 
The  Danish  Hymn-Book  was  completed  and 
published  this  year,  including,  besides  many 
hymns  previously  in  use,  one  hundred  and 
twelve  by  Mr.  Koebner,  the  editor  of  the  book, 
and  pastor  at  Copenhagen.  The  Franco-Prus- 
sian war  interrupted  the  mission-work,  but  much 
labor  was  performed  in  the  army.  More  than 
two  million  copies  of  Scriptures,  tracts,  and 
religious  books  in  French  and  German,  were 
circulated  among  the  soldiers,  —  seed  for  a 
future  harvest. 

In  1872  the  first  Baptist  house  of  worship 
was  erected  in  Russia,  where  a  Russian  brother, 
full  of  talent  and  zeal,  was  laboring  for  Christ. 
Several  churches  in  Prussia  enjoyed  revivals,  by 
which  the  young  especially  were  brought  in. 
New  doors  were  opened  in  Denmark. 

The  Prussian  Parliament  in  1875  passed  an 
act  legally  recognizing  the  rights  of  Baptist 
churches,  permitting  them  to  organize,  and  in- 
corporating them  under  certain  special  condi- 
tions. This  step  indicated  the  liberal  tendency 
of  the  government ;  but,  on  account  of  the  ex- 
planations of  sc^me  r^fficials,  the  act  was  of  no 


THE    WORK  IN  TIFLIS.  325 

special  value.  A  church  was  organized  this 
year  in  St.  Petersburg.  In  connection  with  one 
Russian  church,  three  hundred  and  thirty-one 
were  baptized.  There  were  several  Baptists  in 
Russian  Caucasia.  In  the  period  of  the  Russo- 
Turkish  war,  several  members  of  the  Baptist 
community  in  Tiflis  offered  their  services  as 
nurses  in  the  army.  The  document  in  which 
they  made  this  offer  was  published  in  the  papers 
by  order  of  the  governor,  so  that  the  existence 
of  the  Baptist  church  in  Tiflis  was  officially 
recognized. 

A  long-standing  division  in  the  German 
Union  was  now  healed,  and  harmony  restored. 
A  church  in  Altona,  a  colony  in  1871  from  that 
in  Hamburg,  in  six  years  increased  to  377  mem- 
bers, of  whom  42  were  active  as  colporters. 

The  church  in  Tiflis  originated  in  the  efforts 
of  a  German  brother  and  his  wife,  who  settled 
there,  and  began  to  preach  Christ  to  the  people. 
Soon,  through  their  labors,  there  were  seventy 
disciples  in  the  city  and  surrounding  district. 
A  young  man  from  among  them  after  his 
baptism  visited  Hamburg  that  he  might  receive 
further  insjtruction,  and,-  having  been  ordained, 
returned  to  his  native  land,  where  he  engaged 
in  preaching  the  gospel,  and  many  believed,  of 
whom  several  were  baptized,  and  his  own  father 
among  them.  At  the  latest  accounts  he  had 
undertaken  a  tour  east  of  Tiflis  in  the  region  of 
Mount  Ararat  and  the  Caspian  Sea. 

At  the  close  of  1877,  there  were  in  Germany 
15,287  members;  in  Austria,  81  ;  in  Denmark, 
2,114;    in  Holland,    109;  in  Switzerland,  403; 


326  THE   GERMAN  MISSION. 

in  Poland,  1,747;  '^^^  Russia,  3,686;  in  Turkey, 
159;  in  South  Africa,  447:  total,  24,033. 
Churches  at  the  same  date,  121  ;  preaching- 
stations,  1,371.  The  largest  church  is  Memel  in 
Prussia,  numbering  1,623  members.  Berlin 
numbers  709;  Rummy,  655;  Templin,  518; 
Kicin,  in  Poland,  738;  Neudorff,  in  Russia, 
1,027.  During  the  year  1877,  the  churches  in 
Europe  lost  1,358  members  by  emigration. 
Added  by  baptism,  in  1877,  1,479.  Twelve  of 
the  churches  failed  to  send  in  their  reports. 

Every  year  but  four,  since  the  first  church 
was  formed  in  Hamburg,  has  witnessed  the 
organization  of  one  or  more  new  churches.  A 
large  number  of  the  churches  are  self-support- 
ing, and  many  of  the  evangelists  are  sustained 
by  funds  independent  of  the  Union  or  any 
Society.  The  work,  commencing  with  the  bap- 
tism of  seven  persons  in  the  Elbe,  has  become 
one  of  magnificent  proportions,  ''  a  crown  of 
glory  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  a  royal  dia- 
dem in  the  hand  of  our  God."  The  marvellous 
progress  of  the  enterprise,  in  the  face  of  difficul- 
ties and  opposition,  seals  it  as  the  work  of  Him 
who  has  said,  "  I  will  work,  and  who  shall  let 
it?" 


No.  XX. 

MISSION  TO  SWEDEN. 

Germany  Breaks  Ground  in  Sweden.  —  A  Reminiscence  of  1817. — 
Providential  Preparations,  —  Baptism  of  a  Swede  in  New  York.  — 
F.  O.  Nilsson's  Baptism  and  Labors.  —  Banished  from  Sweden.  — 
Swedish  Church  coming  to  America.  —  Mr.  Wiberg  a  Lutheran 
Minister.  —  Introduced  to  Mr.  Oncken  in  Hamburg.  —  Mr.  Wi- 
berg baptized.  —  Return  to  Sweden.  —  Another  Laborer.  —  Places 
of  Worship.  —  The  Religious  Press.  —  Missionaries  supported. — 
School  for  Preachers. — Persecution  for  Christ's  Sake. — Swedish 
Conference,  —  New  Helpers.  —  New  Chapel  needed.  —  Messrs. 
Broady  and  Edgren.  —  The  Chapel  at  Stockholm.  —  The  Mission 
Transferred  to  the  Missionary  Union.  —  The  Chapel  dedicated.  — 
Swedish  Bethel  Seminary.  —  Church  in  Norway.  —  The  Work 
commenced  in  Finland.  —  Baptisms  within  the  Arctic  Circle.  — 
Baptisms.  —  The  Laplanders.  —  The  Latest  Statistics.  —  Conclu- 
sion. 

THE  Swedish  Mission  was  born  in  the  bosom 
of  the  mission  to  Germany.  As  early 
as  1842  the  brethren  in  Germany  reported  a 
colporter  laboring  in  Norway,  and  in  185 1  a 
church  in  Sweden  with  fifty-eight  members.  In 
1852  the  one  church  had  multiplied  itself,  and 
become  four.  In  1854  two  brethren  from  Swe- 
den came  to  Hamburg,  requesting  to  be  baptized, 
and  empowered  to  administer  baptism  to  others. 
In  1855  two  Baptist  churches,  each  numbering 
eighty  members,  were  constituted  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Sweden.     In  1856  it  was  stated  that  the 


328  MISSION  TO  SWEDEN. 

Baptists  in  Sweden  had  nearly  doubled  in  num* 
bers,  amounting  to  upwards  of  a  thousand,  and 
that  seven  churches  had  been  formed,  and  eight 
ministers  ordained. 

It  is  a  pleasant  recollection  that  the  gospel,  in 
the  hands  of  the  American  Baptists,  touched  the 
people  of  Sweden  at  the  very  beginning  of  our 
missionary  efforts, — an  earnest  of  the  work 
and  the  blessings  which  were  to  follow.  On 
board  the  vessel  which  carried  two  of  our  earli- 
est missionaries,  Colman  and  Wheelock,  to  the 
heathen,  in  November,  181 7,  five  or  six  of  the 
seamen  were  hopefully  converted.  Among  them 
were  two  Swedish  sailors,  who,  on  their  return 
to  this  country,  delighted  many  a  little  company 
of  praying  Christians  with  the  simple  tale  of 
their  conversion,  and  their  faith  in  Christ.  The 
house  still  stands  (1879)  i^^  the  northerly  part  of 
the  city  of  Boston,  in  whose  parlor  these  joyful 
disciples  told  in  broken  speech,  evening  after 
evening,  to  a  wondering  and  grateful  assem- 
bly,- 

"  What  a  dear  Saviour  they  had  found." 

The  national  religion  is  I  utheranism,  which 
was  virtually  established  throughout  the  coun- 
try in  1547.  The  Bible  was  translated  into 
Swedish,  and  published  in  1540;  but  vital  reli- 
gion was  little  known  until  the  last  century, 
when  German  pietism,  and,  still  later,  Mora- 
vianism,  began  to  stir  the  dry  bones  of  the  val- 
ley of  vision.  An  earnest  religious  movement 
followed  in  the  train  of  the  labors  of  George 
Scott,  an  English  missionary,  between  1830  and 


F.   O.   NILSSON'S  BAPTISM  AND  LABORS.      329 

1842.  In  connection  with  this  movement,  a 
spirit  of  true  religion  penetrated  among  all 
classes  of  society,  rich  and  poor,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  the  work  which  has  since  thrilled 
Sweden  in  its  whole  extent  with  a  new  religious 
life  and  fervor. 

As  the  mission  to  Germany  commenced  in 
the  person  of  Mr.  Oncken,  so  the  mission  in 
Sweden,  properly  speaking,  began  in  the  person 
of  Mr.  Andreas  Wiberg.  But  events  going 
before  prepared  the  way.  One  Sunday  morn- 
ing a  young  Swedish  sailor,  Gustaf  W.  Schroe- 
der,  recently  converted  on  the  sea  during  a 
voyage  to  the  United  States,  was  led  to  the 
Mariners'  Church  in  New-York  City.  On  this 
occasion  two  sailors  were  baptized.  Mr.  Schroe- 
der  had  never  before  witnessed  the  ordinance. 
It  made  a  deep  impression  on  his  mind,  and  in 
a  few  weeks  he  was  baptized  himself. 

Another  Swedish  sailor,  Frederick  O.  Nilsson, 
a  man  of  great  simplicity  of  character,  and  full 
of  religious  fervor,  was  converted  in  New  York 
about  the  year  1834.  After  various  voyages  and 
adventures,  he  returned  to  Sweden  in  1839. 
Through  his  unwearied  efforts,  several  of  the 
seamen  on  the  vessel  which  bore  him  were  hope- 
fully brought  to  Christ.  In  1842  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  American  Seamen's  Friend  Soci- 
ety to  labor  as  a  colporter  among  seamen  in 
the  port  of  Gothenburg.  It  was  his  method  to 
labor  among  the  sailors  during  the  summer, 
while  the  harbors  were  open ;  and  in  winter, 
when  they  were  closed  by  ice,  to  visit  from 
house  to  house  among  the  families,  and  tell  the 


330  MISSION-  TO  SWEDEN. 

people,  in  his  simple  and  inimitable  way,  the 
story  of  Christ  and  him  crucified.  After  Mr. 
Schroeder's  return  to  Sweden  he  fell  in  with 
Nilsson ;  and,  in  consequence  of  a  remark 
recorded  by  Schroeder  in  a  letter  from  Hamburg, 
Nilsson  was  led  to  inquire  on  the  subject  of 
baptism.  AfLer  much  study  and  investigation, 
mental  conflict  and  prayer,  he  was  led  by  the 
Spirit  into  the  way  of  obedience  to  the  Lord's 
command.  He  sought  in  vain  for  one  to  admin- 
ister the  ordinance  in  Sweden  ;  but  in  July, 
1847,  finding  his  way  to  Hamburg  for  this  pur- 
pose, he  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Oncken.  This 
brought  the  brethren  in  Germany  and  Sweden 
into  contact.  On  the  21st  of  September,  1848, 
Mr.  Nilsson's  wife  and  four  others  were  baptized 
in  Cattegat,  near  Gothenburg,  by  a  Baptist  mis- 
sionary sent  for  this  purpose  by  the  church  in 
Hamburg ;  and  the  same  evening  the  first  Bap- 
tist church  in  Sweden  was  organized,  number- 
ing six  members.  This  transaction  occurred 
in  the  house  of  B.  N.  Nilsson,  in  the  parish  of 
Landa,  a  district  of  Halland.  Mr.  Nilsson  (F. 
O.)  was  ordained  in  Hamburg  in  1849,  ^-nd  trav- 
elled around,  preaching  and  baptizing  those  who 
believed  in  Christ,  till  the  little  band  numbered 
fifty-two. 

But  the  Lutheran  magistrates,  acting  under 
the  laws  of  Sweden  and  the  instigation  of  the 
Lutheran  priests,  objected  to  the  administration 
of  the  ordinances  of  the  New  Testament  by  a 
person  whose  ordination  they  did  not  recognize. 
Accordingly  Nilsson  was  arrested  July  4,  1849, 
tried,  condemned,  and  publicly  admonished  to 


BANISHED  FROM  SWEDEN.  331 

spcpic  no  more  in  this  name.  Jan.  i,  185 1,  he 
was  again  arrested,  and  kept  in  close  confine- 
ment foi  six  days  ;  after  which  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  another  prison  forty  miles  distant,  and 
finally  released  through  the  entreaties  of  his 
wife.  A  month  later,  Feb.  15,  he  was  arrested 
a  third  time,  appeared  twice  before  the  High 
Court,  and  during  the  ten  days  of  his  detention 
made  the  most  of  his  time  in  preaching  the 
gospel  as  he  found  opportunity.  His  trial  ex- 
cited great  interest  in  the  city ;  and  the  minutes 
of  it  were  printed  in  pamphlet  form,  and  scat- 
tered by  thousands  throughout  the  land.  Mr. 
Nilsson  said,  "  Thus  my  appearance  before  the 
High  Court  was  the  public  introduction  of  Bap- 
tist principles  in  Sweden.  Let  now  the  poor 
sailor  be  banished  from  the  realm.  What  mat- 
ters that }  The  truths  which  by  his  trial  have 
been  disseminated  in  Sweden  can  never  be  ban- 
ished." He  was  permitted  to  appeal  to  the 
King,  with  whom  he  had  an  interview ;  and  dur- 
ing his  stay  in  Stockholm  he  became  acquainted 
with  several  pious  believers,  who  were  the  nu- 
cleus of  the  church  in  that  city.  At  length  his 
last  appeal  proved  abortive.  His  last  petition 
was  rejected.  He  was  banished  from  the  coun- 
try, and  took  his  leave  of  his  weeping  friends 
July  4,  185 1,  being  counted  worthy  to  suffer 
exile  for  Christ's  sake.  But  he  left  behind  him 
in  Sweden  fifty-six  believers  scattered  in.  differ- 
ent directions. 

In  Copenhagen,  to  which  he  directed  his 
course,  he  remained  nearly  two  years,  the  last 
year  filling  the  office  of  pastor.     In  the  spring 


332  MISSION  TO  SWEDEN. 

of  1853,  a  company  of  twenty  or  thirty  Swedish 
Christians  resolved  to  seek  in  the  New  World 
the  privilege  denied  them  in  their  own  country, 
—  freedom  to  worship  God.  By  their  request, 
Mr.  Nilsson  accompanied  them  as  their  pastor ; 
and  in  June,  1853,  the  little  flock  landed  in  New 
York,  and  proceeded  to  one  of  the  Western 
States,  where  they  settled. 

While  the  government  was  striving  to  quench 
the  fire  that  had  been  kindled  in  the  southern 
part  of  Sweden,  a  new  ray  of  light  began  to 
glimmer  in  the  north  and  east.  A  few  Chris- 
tians in  Stockholm  had  begun  to  question  the 
Scrij3turalness  of  infant-baptism.  About  this 
time  Mr.  Wiberg  was  providentially  led  to 
Stockholm.  He  had  been  educated  for  the  min- 
istry in  the  Lutheran  Church,  was  hopefully 
converted  in  1842,  ordained  as  a  Lutheran  min- 
ister at  Upsala  in  1843,  and  officiated  in  the 
State  Church  till  1849.  He  preached  not  only 
in  the  regular  places  of  public  worship,  but  also 
in  the  villages  and  farmhouses  ;  and  his  preach- 
ing was  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  sinners. 
But  the  Divine  Spirit,  who  had  another  destiny 
for  him  to  fulfil,  so  ordered  that  he  was  never 
at  ease  in  his  connection  with  the  State  Church  ; 
and  in  1849  he  became  convinced  that  he  could 
no  longer  conscientiously  remain  in  it.  His 
chief  trouble  arose  from  the  necessity  of  ^admin- 
istering  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  a  Lutheran  min- 
ister, to  all  persons  indiscriminately.  He  found 
no  Scriptural  recognition  of  an  unconverted 
church-membership. 

In     1850     Mr.    Wiberg    visited     Stockholm, 


MR.    WIBERG  BAPTIZED.  333 

where  he  met  with  brethren  who  were  exer- 
cised on  the  subject  of  baptism.  The  follow- 
ing year  he  went  to  Hamburg,  and  was  intro- 
duced to  Mr.  Oncken  and  his  fellow-laborer,  Mr. 
Koebner,  with  whom  he  earnestly  discussed  the 
subject,  still  retaining  his  early  prejudices  in 
favor  of  infant-baptism.  Returning  thence  to 
Stockholm,  he  re-examined  the  whole  subject  in 
the  licfht  of  the  New  Testament,  and  became 
convinced  of  the  truth  as  he  found  it  recorded 
in  the  Holy  Word.  In  1852  he  published  a 
volume  on  Baptism,  an  octavo  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  pages,  unfolding  the  conclusions  to 
which  he  had  been  brought,  and  the  reasoms  of 
them. 

Attacked  about  this  time  by  hemorrhage  of 
the  lungs,  a  sea-voyage  and  rest  were  recom- 
mended to  him  ;  and  he  embarked  for  the  Unit- 
ed States  in  a  sailing-vessel,  July  17,  1852.  The 
vessel  providentially  made  a  tarry  near  Copen- 
hagen ;  and  there,  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  night 
of  July  23,  1852,  he  was  baptized  by  Mr.  F.  O. 
Nilsson.  There  was  at  that  time  no  Baptist  in 
Sweden  to  baptize  him ;  and  he  embraced  this, 
the  first  opportunity  which  offered.  The  Scrip- 
ture found  a  new  fulfilment,  "He  must  increase, 
but  I  must  decrease."  Nilsson  was  banished, 
but  Wiberg  was  raised  up  more  effectually  to 
fill  his  place.  The  voyage  being  completed  with 
favorable  effects,  Mr.  Wiberg  arrived  in  New 
York  in  September,  1852,  and  was  employed 
several  months  as  a  colporter  by  the  American 
Baptist  Publication  Society  in  behalf  of  sea- 
men, in  connection  with  the  Mariners'  Church. 


334  MISSION-  TO  SWEDEN. 

After  this,  he  spent  two  years  more  in  the 
United  States,  attending  to  the  translation  and 
stereotyping  of  tracts  in  Swedish  for  circulation 
among  his  countrymen.  He  also  wrote  two 
more  books  on  Baptism. 

In  August,  1855,  Mr.  Wiberg  received  ap- 
pointment by  the  American  Baptist  Publication 
Society  to  labor  as  superintendent  of  colportage 
in  Sweden  ;  and  arrived  in  Stockholm  Oct.  7. 
During  his  absence  of  three  years  the  work  had 
made  considerable  advancement :  many,  in  the 
mean  time,  had  become  convinced  of  the  truth, 
and  were  desirous  of  being  baptized.  As  there 
was  no  administrator  in  the  country,  one  of  the 
brethren,  otherwise  qualified,  went  to  Hamburg 
in  the  spring  of  1854,  and  was  baptized  and 
ordained  by  Mr.  Oncken,  —  the  work  in  Sweden 
thus  again  interlinking  itself  with  the  German 
Mission.  This  was  Mr.  P.  F.  Hejdenberg.  On 
his  return  he  baptized  numbers  of  believers  on 
profession  of  their  faith,  both  in  Stockholm  and 
in  other  important  places ;  so  that,  at  the  close 
of  the  year,  there  were  about  two  hundred  bap- 
tized believers  in  the  realm.  In  1855  there  was 
a  still  larger  accession  ;  so  that,  by  the  close  of 
December,  the  number  had  increased  to  about 
five  hundred. 

In  November,  1855,  a  larger  room  for  worship 
was  opened  in  the  southern  suburb  of  Stock- 
holm, capable  of  holding  three  hundred  hearers. 
In  this  room  the  first  Sunday  school  was  organ- 
ized with  twenty-two  scholars,  which  soon  in- 
creased to  a  hundred  and  fifty.  Still  later,  the 
situation  being  found  too  remote,  a  larger  room 


MISSIONARIES  SUPPORTED.  335 

was  obtained  in  the  centre  of  Stockholm,  capa- 
ble of  seating  five  hundred  hearers.  This  room 
was  opened  in  May,  1856  :  here  many  souls  were 
converted,  and  here  the  church  continued  to 
worship  for  ten  years.  In  1866  they  removed 
to  the  new  chapel  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
city. 

A  religious  journal  was  commenced  by  Mr. 
Wiberg  Jan.  i,  1856,  called  "The  Evangelist." 
It  was  issued  as  a  semi-monthly,  with  six  hun- 
dred subscribers  at  the  outset.  It  was  a  favora- 
ble circumstance,  that,  when  the  ministry  was 
muzzled  in  Sweden,  the  press  was  always  free ; 
so  that,  when  the  brethren  were  not  allowed  to 
speak  to  the  ears  of  the  people,  they  could 
speak  to  them  through  the  eyes.  Early  this 
same  year  four  brethren  were  ordained,  and 
appointed  to  labor  in  the  service  of  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Publication  Society,  preaching  in 
the  provincial  villages  and  farmhouses,  circulat- 
ing Bibles  and  tracts,  and  baptizing  those  who 
believed. 

An  association  called  the  Missionary  Union 
of  Stockholm  was  also  formed  in  March,  1856, 
for  the  purpose  of  sending  out  missionaries,  and 
publishing  and  circulating  books  and  tracts. 
Much  good  was  the  result :  several  home  mis- 
sionaries were  thus  supported  every  year,  and 
in  course  of  time  several  similar  Unions  were 
formed  in  other  places.  During  a  period  of 
eighteen  years,  ninety-nine  laborers  were  sup- 
ported in  whole  or  part, .  and  more  than  two 
million  books  and  tracts  were  put  in  circulation. 
In  1856  a  school  was  also  opened  to  train  young 


336  MISSION  TO  SWEDEN. 

men  for  the  ministry.  Mr.  K.  Edvall,  a  gradu- 
ate of  the  University  of  Upsala,  and  a  Baptist, 
had  charge  of  the  school  the  jirst  year.  At  the 
close  of  1856,  there  were  21  churches,  24  min- 
isters, and  961  members  ;  492  had  been  bap- 
tized during  the  year.  There  were  eight  Sun- 
day schools,  and  about  four  hundred  scholars. 

As  in  other  Lutheran  countries,  the  magis- 
trates did  not  fail  to  endeavor  to  crush  the 
rising  cause  by  persecution.  Mr.  Hejdenberg, 
the  preacher  ordained  by  Mr.  Oncken,  was  sum- 
moned before  the  tribunals  sixteen  times  for 
having  held  meetings  contrary  to  the  laws,  and 
was  imprisoned  in  six  different  places,  from  two 
to  fourteen  days  each.  Another  of  the  preach- 
ers was  fined  one  hundred  crowns  for  preaching 
the  gospel,  and  five  crowns  additional  for  vio- 
lating the  Sabbath  in  preaching.  A  third  was 
sentenced  to  pay  a  hundred  crowns  for  reading 
a  chapter  in  the  Bible  in  public ;  and  afterwards 
he  was  arrested  on  a  missionary  tour,  and  con- 
veyed back  as  a  prisoner  to  his  home.  A  fourth 
brother  was  imprisoned  several  weeks,  and  kept 
on  bread  and  water,  because  he  had  allowed  a 
preacher  to  read  the  Bible  in  hi^  cottage.  In 
1857  six  brethren  were  confined  in  cells,  and 
some  of  them  were  treated  very  harshly.  One 
of  them,  a  blind  colporter,  was  imprisoned 
eight  days  for  distributing  tracts  :  afterwards, 
with  an  iron  chain  attached  to  one  of  his  ankles, 
he  was  transferred  to  another  prison,  where  new 
irons  were  placed  upon  him ;  and,  finally,  he 
was  compelled  to  pay  a  considerable  sum  to  the 
authorities  for  their  trouble.     Still  another  was 


SWEDISH  CONFERENCE.  337 

seized  on  a  cold  winter  day,  severely  buffeted, 
sponged  all  over  with  cold  water,  his  hair  cut 
close  to  his  head,  and  then,  in  thin  prison  cloth- 
ing, he  was  thrown  into  a  damp  and  chilly  cell. 
Yet  another  wrote  that  he  could  not  leave  his 
village  without  danger  of  being  seized  and  im- 
prisoned. God  be  thanked  that  such  things  are 
in  the  past ! 

The  first  Conference  of  the  Swedish  Baptist 
churches  was  held  at  Stockholm,  June  13-16, 
1857,  when  an  executive  committee  was  chosen 
to  superintend  the  general  interests  of  the  de- 
nomination in  Sweden.  One  of  the  objects  of 
the  committee  was  to  devise  means  for  the  edu- 
cation of  brethren  who  might  seem  to  be  called 
to  preach  the  gospel.  Rev.  G.  Palmquist  was 
added  to  the  working  staff  of  the  mission,  which 
seemed  to  create  a  new  impulse.  He  had  been 
in  the  United  States  for  six  years,  a  missionary 
among  the  Swedes  in  Illinois  and  Iowa.  Dur- 
ing this  year,  1,292  were  added  to  the  churches 
by  baptism ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  there 
were  44  pastors,  45  churches,  and  2,105  mem- 
bers. Two  brothers  of  Mr.  Palmquist,  Peter 
and  John,  became  active  helpers  in  the  work. 

The  year  1858  was  signalized  by  the  acces- 
sion of  another  useful  laborer  in  the  mission, 
Mr.  Adolph  Drake,  a  nobleman  by  birth,  and 
whc  had  studied  for  the  ministry  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Upsala,  but  from  conscientious  convic- 
tions could  not  become  a  Lutheran  pastor.  He 
was  baptized  at  Stockholm,  and  has  proved  to 
be  a  faithful  helper.  For  several  years  he 
*<lited  a  weekly  paper  (**  Wecko-Posten  " —  "  The 


33S  *  MISSION  TO  SWEDEN. 

Weekly  Post "),  and  became  afterwards  a  teach- 
er in  the  school  for  training  young  preachers. 

In  1859  Mr.  Wiberg  visited  England  to  solicit 
funds  to  aid  in  building  a  chapel  in  Stockholm, 
the  hall  in  which  the  public  worship  was  held 
being  altogether  insufficient  to  contain  all  who 
came  to  the  meetings.  He  collected  about 
;^5;500.  But  this  sum  being  inadequate  to  the 
exigency,  he  returned  in  1863  to  America,  to 
prosecute  this  important  object.  This  visit  of 
two  years  proved  a  blessing  to  the  mission  in 
still  another  respect,  as  it  was  instrumental  in 
giving  two  more  efficient  laborers  to  the  work 
in  Sweden,  —  Col.  Knut  Oscar  Broady,  and 
Capt.  John  A.  Edgren.  The  former  had  been 
an  officer  in  the  army,  the  colonel  of  a  regi- 
ment, and  the  latter  in  the  navy,  captain  of  a 
gunboat,  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  They 
were  both  brave  men  and  noble  workers,  valiant 
soldiers  in  the  cause  of  their  adopted  country, 
and  equally  valiant  soldiers  for  Christ.  They 
were  both  Swedes  by  birth,  and  had  enjoyed 
the  benefits  of  study  at  the  Hamilton  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  that  nurse  of  missionaries. 
While  under  appointment,  previous  to  their 
departure,  immense  audiences  were  thrilled  by 
their  addresses,  and  a  wide  and  deep  enthu- 
siasm was  created  among  American  Baptists  for 
the  mission  in  Sweden. 

Between  1863  and  1866,  the  date  of  Mr.  Wi- 
berg's  return  with  these  new  helpers,  the  new 
chapel  had  been  finished  and  entered :  the,  ex- 
pense, including  land,  was  nearly  1^35,000.  And, 
though  it  was  expected  to  seat   i,20Q  hearers. 


THE  MISSION  TRANSFERRED.  339 

such  was  the  interest  of  the  people  in  the  city, 
attracted  to  hear  the  gospel  in  the  new  edifice, 
that  it  was  soon  filled  to  overflowing. 
.  Up  to  this  period  the  Swedish  Mission  had 
been  aided  and  directed  by  the  Board  of  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society ;  but  it 
had  grown  to  such  proportions  that  its  work 
seemed  no  longer  to  come  within  the  appropri- 
ate sphere  of  that  Society,  and  an  offer  was 
made  in  October,  1865,  to  transfer  the  enter- 
prise to  the  Missionary  Union.  Accordingly  a 
special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers  was 
called  in  December,  1865,  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  at  which  the  Executive  Committee  were 
instructed  to  accept  the  proffer,  and  assume 
henceforth,  in  behalf  of  the  Union,  the-care  and 
support  of  the  Swedish  Mission.  The  transfer 
took  effect  March  i,  1866;  and  Messrs.  Wiberg 
and  Broady  were  appointed  missionaries  of  the 
Union,  to  labor  in  their  native  country.  April 
5,  John  Alexis  Edgren  was  also  appointed  a 
missionary.  Mr.  Wiberg  was  designated  to 
give  his  strength  to  the  preparation  of  an  evan- 
gelical Baptist  literature ;  and  Messrs.  Broady 
and  Edgren,  while  preaching  in  the  city  of 
Stockholm  and  vicinity  on  Sunday,  to  com- 
mence and  take  charge  of  a  literary  and  theo- 
logical school  for  the  training  of  an  able  and 
efficient  ministry. 

Here,  again,  two  missions  of  the  Union  were 
brought  into  contact,  the  Swedish  and  the  Bur- 
man  ;  for  .the  wife  of  Mr.  Edgren,  who  accom- 
panied him  to  Sweden,  was  the  daughter  of 
Rev.  N.  Harris,  missionary,  in  Shwaygyeen, 
Burm^ah. 


340  MISSION  TO  SWEDEN. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1866,  there  were 
in  Sweden  nine  Associations,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-six  churches,  and  6,606  members.  In 
two  years  emigrations  to  the  United  States 
decimated  many  of  the  churches  ;  but  the  sta- 
tistics show,  notwithstanding,  a  constant  in- 
crease. "  The  little  one "  had  become  thou- 
sands, "and  the  small  one  a  strong  nation." 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  Messrs.  Wiberg, 
Broady,  and  Edgren  in  Sweden,  Aug.  25,  the 
Triennial  Conference  met  in  Stockholm.  The 
next  day  the  chapel,  which  had  been  entered 
for  preaching,  but  not  for  the  administration 
of  the  ordinances,  was  formally  dedicated,  the 
service  including  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  "  the  whole  audience-room  was  en- 
tirely filled  with  communicants."  The  chapel 
was  built  of  stone,  and  of  dimensions  sufficient 
to  accommodate  a  thousand  hearers. 

The  theological  school  was  at  once  com- 
menced, under  the  name  of  the  Swedish  Bethel 
Seminary.  The  school  was  opened  for  pupils 
Oct.  I,  1866,  with  seven  scholars,  to  be  thence- 
forward a  permanent  and  well-regulated  insti- 
tution, sending  out  its  regular  graduates  year 
by  year  to  be  a  blessing  to  the  churches,  and 
to  enter  in  and  reap  in  the  wide,  white  harvest- 
field  of  the  northern  nations.  Another  mis- 
sionary, Mr.  J.  E.  Nystrom,  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Upsala,  was  appointed  in  1866 
as  a  preacher,  and  also  professor  in  the  Bethel 
Seminary.     His  service  continued  till  1872. 

There  were  now  four  places  of  worship  sus- 
tained by  the  Baptists  in  the  city  of  Stockholm. 


CHURCH  IN  NORWAY.       •  341 

In  February,  1867,  a  church  was  organized  in 
a  town  near  the  southern  point  of  Norway. 
Remarkable  revivals  were  reported  in  many 
towns  and  cities  in  various  parts  of  Sweden. 
The  whole  history  of  the  mission  has  been  an 
almost  unbroken  history  of  revivals.  In  1868 
there  were  five  brethren  in  Stockholm  drawing 
a  support  from  the  Missionary  Union,  besides 
twelve  preachers  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

In  1868  Mr.  Theodore  Truve  was  appointed 
to  join  the  mission,  to  be  stationed  at  Gothen- 
burg. Mr.  Edgren  was  transferred  from  the 
Seminary  to  take  the  pastoral  charge  of  the 
church  in  Upsala,  which,  as  the  university  town, 
was  a  sphere  of  much  importance. 

This  year  the  work  crossed  the  Baltic  Sea, 
and  entered  Finland.  Two  persons,  a  brother 
and  sister,  the  latter,  Miss  Anna  Heikel,  teacher 
in  a  national  institution  for  the  deaf  and  dumb, 
were  baptized  in  Sweden.  Returning  to  their 
own  kingdom  with  hearts  warmed  by  the  love 
of  Christ,  they  labored  with  great  zeal  for  the 
souls  of  their  countrymen,  and  their  labors  were 
crowned  with  a  wonderful  blessing.  The  first 
baptism  in  Finland  was  administered  July  14, 
1868,  on  the  shore  of  the  Baltic. 

The  history  of  Mr.  and  Miss  Heikel,  the  first 
converts  from  Finland,  is  very  interesting.  Im- 
pressions had  been  made  on  their  minds  in 
favor  of  the  Baptists  twelve  years  before,  when 
they  were  children,  through  some  poor  and 
persecuted  Baptists  from  the  island  of  Aland, 
who  visited  the  city  of  Abo,  and  were  arrested 
and  examined  before  the  consistory  of  that  city 


342  MISSION  TO  SWEDEN. 

concerning  their  faith  in  Christ  and  their  pur- 
pose to  walk  in  his  footsteps.  The  father  of 
the  children,  Professor  Heikel,  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Abo,  received  these  Baptists  into  his 
house,  and  treated  them  with  kindness.  The 
impressions  received  in  connection  with  the 
visit  of  these  people  were  never  effaced ;  and, 
having  been  baptized,  they  were  now  the  lead- 
ers of  this  little  flock  of  believers. 

The  churches  in  Norway  were  now  six  or 
seven  in  number,  with  about  two  hundred 
members.  In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  four 
believers  were  baptized  at  Tromsoe  and  vicin- 
ity, north  of  the  Arctic  Circle,  about  seventy 
degrees  north  latitude.  A  Swedish  brother,  a 
basket-maker  by  trade,  visited  the  place  in  1869, 
and  was  permitted  to  preach  in  the  meeting- 
house. His  preaching  was  blessed  to  the  con- 
version of  souls ;  and  soon  after  Christmas  six- 
teen were  baptized,  and  shortly  after  twelve 
more.  On  the  last  day  of  December  a  church 
was  organized,  the  most  northern  Baptist  church 
in  the  world,  consisting  of  fifty  members.  In 
January  eleven  more  were  baptized,  and  two 
in  February.  No  difficulty  was  experienced 
in  administering  the  ordinance  in  the  heart  of 
the  winter,  m  this  extreme  northern  latitude. 
•A  willing  and  obedient  heart  will  find  it  easy  to 
follow  the  footsteps  of  Christ.  "I  will  find  a 
way,"  said  the  Roman  soldier,  "  or  I  will  make 
one."  In  187 1  the  members  reported  were 
one  hundred. 

In  1872  John  Hymander,  a  venerable  pas- 
tor for  forty  years  of  a  Lutheran  church  in  Fin- 


THE  LATEST  STATISTICS.  343 

land,  on  the  borders  of  Russia,  was  baptized; 
also  another  Lutheran  pastor  at  Gothenburg, 
a  man  of  ability  and  culture.  This  year  the 
Stockholm  Missionary  Union  aided  thirty-eight, 
preachers,  of  whom  eighteen  received  from 
that  Society  their  whole  support.  The  Swedish 
Conference  resolved  to  organize  a  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society,  to  aid  in  sending  the  gospel  to 
the  heathen.  A  brother  who  had  long  had  this, 
work  on  his  heart  gave  four  hundred  dollars  to 
begin  the  necessary  funds,  and  obtained  three 
hundred  dollars  more  from  persons  in  his 
employ.  An  interest  was  also  awakened  for 
the  conversion  of  the  Laplanders.  A  con- 
verted Laplander  was  reported  among  the 
preachers  connected  with  the  mission  in  1874. 
Mr.  Truve,  at  Gothenburg,  edited  at  this  date 
two  Sunday-school  papers  and  an  illustrated 
religious  paper  for  older  persons.  At  the  close 
of  1874  there  were  ten  Associations,  228 
churches,  10,075  members,  and  6'i  meeting- 
houses. 

In  the  last  annual  report  it  was  stated  that 
Sweden  had  never  enjoyed  such  a  year  of  bless- 
ing as  the  preceding.  The  baptisms  were  three 
times  as  numerous  as  the  average  of  former 
years.  The  history  of  the  mission  in  Sweden, 
notwithstanding  hinderances,  has  been  a  record 
of  triumphs,  —  he  who  is  the  Most  Mighty  gird- 
ing his  sword  upon  his  thigh,  and  going  forth, 
conquering  and  to  conquer.  According  to  the 
latest  statistics,  there  were  in  connection  with 
the  mission  253  churches,  13,695  members,  and 
95  houses  of  worship.     Baptized  in  1877,  2,360. 


344  MISSION  TO  SWEDEN. 

The  seventeen  Missionary  Societies  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  supported,  in  whole  or  in 
part,  about  ninety  preachers,  at  a  cost  of  about 
^5)33^;  and  the  Sunday  schools  contribute  for 
the  spread  of  the  gospel  among  the  heathen. 
Thousands  have  probably  been  converted 
through  Baptist  instrumentality,  who  remain 
connected  with  the  State  churches ;  and  thou- 
sands of  converts  besides  have  emigrated  to 
America.  Of  the  twenty-four  provinces  in 
Sweden,  there  is  not  one  which  does  not  con- 
tain a  Baptist  church.  In  Norway  there  are 
seventeen  churches  and  about  four  hundred 
members. 

The  Baptists  are  still  subject  to  certain  civil 
disabilities,  which  cause  them  inconvenience 
and  trial,  and  which  the  diffusion  of  light  will 
remedy  in  due  time.  But  the  wonderful  prog- 
ress of  the  work  during  the  brief  period  re- 
viewed in  this  sketch  shows  it  to  be  a  work 
which  God  approves ;  and  we  cannot  do  other- 
wise than  exclaim  concerning  it,  "This  is  the 
Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes." 


No.  XXI. 

MISSION   TO   GREECE. 

Btginning  of  the  Mission.  —  Re-enforcements.  —  The  First  Baptism. 

—  Greek  School.  —  Persecution.  —  Translation.  —  Government 
Opposition.  —  Shall    the   Mission  be   continued  ?  —  The    Church. 

—  *'  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  in  Greek.  —  The  Mission  suspended.  — 
The  Work  resumed.  —  The  Station  at  Athens.  —  Baptism.  — 
Prosperity  and  Disappointment.  —  Government  Opposition.  — 
The  Consummation  delayed. 

IN  conformity  with  the  resolution  passed  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Triennial  Convention  in 
Richmond  in  1835,  authorizing  the  Board  to 
establish  missions  in  all  fields  presenting  a 
favorable  opening,  a  mission  was  commenced  in 
1836  in  the  kingdom  of  Greece.  Horace  T. 
Love  and  Cephas  Pasco  were  ordained  in  Provi- 
dence, Sept.  8,  1836,  and  set  apart  to  this  work; 
and  arrived  at  Patras,  on  the  northern  border  of 
Peloponnesus,  Dec.  9,  1836.  Soon  after  their 
arrival,  they  applied  to  the  government  for  per- 
mission to  distribute  the  Scriptures  and  to  en- 
gage in  teaching.  Their  request  was  granted, 
and  after  some  delay  a  school  was  opened  with 
sixteen  scholars.  Numerous  applications  were 
made  for  admission  by  others  seeking  instruc- 
tion.    In  June,  1837,  a  Sunday  school  was  com- 

345 


346  MISSION  TO  GREECE. 

menced  with  from  ten  to  twenty  pupils,  who 
committed  from  five  to  fifty  verses  each  weekly. 
An  aged  teacher  from  Missolonghi  made  an 
earnest  application  for  a  school  there.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1838,  it  was  proposed  to  establish  a 
second  station  on  the  island  of  Zante,  to  be 
under  the  care  of  Mr.  Love.  But,  before  the 
mission  was  well  founded,  it  began  to  experi- 
ence reverses.  Mr.  Pasco,  on  account  of  fail- 
ing health,  was  compelled  to  leave  the  mission  ; 
and  returned  to  the  United  States  in  the  fall  of 
1839,  after  a  service  of  less  than  three  years. 

In  1839  Mrs.  Harriet  E.  Dickson,  born  in 
England,  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  mis- 
sion. She  had  previously  been  a  teacher  in  a 
government  school  in  Corfu.  In  September  of 
this  year  Sunday  services  in  Greek  were  com- 
menced by  Mr.  Love ;  and  the  report  came,  that 
three  Greeks  manifested  an  interest,  and  had 
begun  to  pray.  In  1840  the  mission  was  re- 
moved to  Corfu ;  and  Aug.  1 2  of  that  year  the 
first  convert,  bearing  the  name  of  Apostolos 
(missionary),  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Love,  and 
employed  as  an  assistant.  Twelve  or  fifteen 
others  began  to  investigate  the  truth  as 
preached  by  the  missionary.  Rev.  R.  F.  Buel 
and  Mrs.  Buel  joined  the  mission  June  18,  1841. 
In  December,  1842,  on  account  of  the  failure  of 
his  health,  Mr.  Love  left  Corfu,  and  returned  to 
the  United  States  ;  but  before  his  departure  he 
baptized  two  more  Greeks. 

In  1 84 1  religious  services  were  held  every 
evening  for  about  six  weeks  in  Potamo,  a  vil- 
lage adjoining  Corfu.  Who  can  tell  where  and 
how  the  seed  thus  sown  shall  spring  up } 


GOVERNMENT  OPPOSITION.  347 

In  1842  Mrs.  Dickson's  school  numbered 
forty  pupils.  The  native  helper  was  perse- 
cuted, and,  agreeably  to  the  command  of  Christ, 
—  "  When  they  persecute  you  in  this  city,  flee 
ye  to  another," — retired  to  Athens.  Thus  a 
way  began  to  be  prepared  for  the  subsequent 
opening  of  a  station  in  that  city.  A  prayer- 
meeting  was  .held  by  seven  Greeks  in  Patras, 
and  a  Sunday  school  numbered  from  fifty  to 
sixty  pupils.  Several  of  the  people  seemed 
interested. 

In  February,  1844,  Rev.  Albert  N.  and  Mrs. 
Arnold  and  Miss  S.  E.  Waldo  arrived  in  Corfu. 
Apostolos  left  the  service  of  the  mission.  Mr. 
Buel  removed  to  Piraeus,  and  revised  for  the 
press  a  translation  into  Greek  of  Wayland's 
Moral  Science.  The  interest  in  religion  was 
encouraging,  and  Mr.  Buel  had  an  average  of 
fifty  hearers  at  worship.  In  1845  Mr.  Arnold 
commenced  preaching  *in  Greek  in  Corfu,  as 
a  regularly  established  service.  Miss  Waldo's 
mission-school  at  Piraeus  was  closed  by  order 
of  the  government  in  1847  \  ^'^^  about  the  same 
time  an  end  was  put  to  preaching  in  Mr.  Buel's 
house,  and  he  himself  was  arrested,  and  con- 
demned to  ten  days*  imprisonment  for  violating 
the  penal  code.  In  1849  Miss  Waldo  became 
the  wife  of  a  native  Greek,  and  her  connection 
with  the  mission  closed. 

At  this  time  there  was  a  church  of  five  mem- 
bers, besides  those  in  the  mission  family  —  two 
in  Corfu,  and  three  in  Zante;  two  were  loni- 
ans,  one  English,  and  one  Anglo-Ionian.  In 
Zante     fifteen    Greeks    attended    the    regular 


348  MISSION  TO   GREECE. 

prayer-meeting,  and  four  young  men  undertook 
studies  with  reference  to  being  useful  in  the 
ministry.  The  influence  of  the  government 
stood  in  the  way  of  the  progress  of  the  work. 
One  young  man,  a  school-teacher,  asked  for 
baptism ;  but,  in  consequence  of  this  request,  he 
was  dismissed  from  his  office,  and  lost  the  pros- 
pect of  obtaining  orders  in  the  Greek  Church. 

Two  young  men  were  baptized  in  Corfu  by 
Mr.  Arnold,  July  4,  1849,  one  of  whom  had 
been  a  candidate  two  years,  and  was  engaged 
in  studies  preparatory  to  usefulness  among  his 
countrymen. 

The  mission,  after  a  continuance  of  fourteen 
years,  had  borne  little  fruit ;  and  the  obstacles 
to  its  success  were  so  great  that  the  question 
arose,  whether  it  was  wise  to  labor  longer  at 
this  point,  when  other  and  more  prosperous 
fields  were  calling  loudly  for  help.  It  seemed 
as  if  God's  time  was  not^et. 

In  185 1  opposition  sprang  up  at  Zante,  and 
an  assistant  was  thrown  into  prison.  The 
preaching  at  Corfu  was  discontinued,  and  Mr. 
Arnold  removed  to  Athens.  Sixty  priests  of 
the  Greek  Church  addressed  a  petition  to  the 
bishop  of  Zante,  complaining  that  their  reli- 
gion had  been  assailed,  and  demanded  the  ban- 
ishment of  the  two  Greek  assistants  from  the 
island.  One  of  them  was  kept  in  prison  eleven 
days  to  protect  him  from  the  fury  of  the  people, 
and  then  released  on  his  promise  to  leave  the 
island. 

In  1852  the  church  had  come  to  number  thir- 
teen.    Five  of   the  number  were  missionaries, 


THE  MISSION  SUSPENDED.  349 

one  of  English  parentage,  and  seven  were 
Greeks, — all  men,  from  twenty  years  old  to 
forty.  But  the  audiences  were  small.  An 
earnest  inquirer  or  two  cheered  the  hopes  of 
the  laborers,  but  the  mission  was  evidently 
under  a  cloud.  The  man  of  Macedonia  had  not 
called,  '*  Come  over  and  help  us." 

In  1854  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  was  issued  in 
modern  Greek.  It  was  translated  by  one  of 
the  converts,  Pelecassis,  under  the  supervision 
of  Mr.  Buel,  who  had  now  removed  to  Piraeus. 
There  were  applicants  for  baptism,  but  their  ex- 
periences lacked  the  manifest  depth  and  power 
which  are  born  of  the  Spirit.  At  length  the 
cholera  prevailed  fearfully  at  Athens  and  Pi- 
raeus, quenching  the  zeal  of  the  few  attendants 
on  the  Word.  Mr.  Arnold  preached  in  his  own 
house  to  a  small  assembly,  chiefly  of  young  men 
from  the  university,  who  came  not  so  much 
because  they  were  attracted  by  the  gospel  as 
because  they  were  drawn  by  Mr.  Arnold's  ele- 
gance in  the  use  of  the  Greek  language. 

Mr.  Arnold  resigned  his  office  as  a  missionary 
in  Greece,  and  returned  to  the  United  States  in 
August,  1855,  and  Mr.  Buel  in  the  following 
November.  The  converts,  with  one  or  two  ex- 
ceptions, had  not  fulfilled  the  expectation  cher- 
ished concerning  them.  The  mission  was  closed 
in  the  year  1855.  Demetrius  Sakellarios,  the 
remaining  assistant,  continued  his  labors  till 
April  I,  1856. 

For  fifteen  years  the  work  was  suspended. 
But  numbers  of  Christian  persons  in  this  coun- 
try at  length  earnestly  desired  its  resumption. 


350  MISSION  TO  GREECE. 

Two  ministering  brethren,  Messrs.  Gardner  and 
Faunce,  visited  Athens  in  1871,  and  after  dili- 
gent inquiries  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
would  be  wise  to  nndertake  the  enterprise 
afresh.  They  ordained  the  former  assistant, 
Demetrius  Z.  Sakellarios,  a  printer  by  trade, 
who,  since  the  suspension  of  the  mission  in 
1855,  had  visited  this  country,  and  pursued 
studies  at  the  Newton  Theological  Institution, 
and  encouraged  him  to  expect  assistance  in  his 
evangelical  labors.  The  Executive  Committee, 
after  careful  consideration,  finally  decided  in 
the  year  1871  to  recommence  the  work  in 
Greece,  and  appointed  Mr.  Sakellarios  their 
missionary. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sakellarios  (formerly  Miss  Ed- 
mands,  of  Charlestown,  Mass.)  established  them- 
selves at  Athens,  and  were  abundant  in  labors. 
Besides  the  preaching  on  Sunday,  some  meet- 
ing to  interest  the  people  was  held  nearly  every 
evening  in  the  week,  and  two  Sunday  schools 
were  opened.  The  laborers  had  to  contend 
against  much  opposition  and  ignorance,  but 
their  work  was  not  wholly  in  vain.  A  nephew 
of  Mr.  Sakellarios  was  baptized,  and  made  an 
extensive  tour  as  a  colporter,  visiting  the  prin- 
cipal islands  of  the  Cyclades,  conversing  on 
religion  with  the  people,  and  selling  Bibles  and 
religious  books.  By  some  he  was  strenuously 
opposed,  but  others  favored  and  protected  him. 
He  afterwards  entered  the  university,  in  the 
hope  of  being  more  useful,  in  the  mean  time 
devoting  his  attention  to  the  work  of  colportage. 
In    the  year    1873    a  Greek  woman   became   a 


I 


GO  VERNMENT  RES  TRICTION.  35 1 

hopeful  convert,  and  gave  continuous  evidence 
of  Christian  character  and  growth  in  grace. 

An  interesting  incident  occurred  in  1874.  A 
man  who  was  a  regular  attendant  on  the  meet- 
ings professed  conversion,  and  asked  for  bap- 
tism. About  eighteen  years  previously  he  had 
received  a  Bible  and  a  copy  of  a  tract.  At  that 
time  the  reading  made  no  impression  on  his 
mind  ;  but  later,  on  hearing  them  read  and  com- 
mented on,  he  seemed  to  enter  into  the  experi- 
ence of  faith,  love,  and  joy,  which  the  Spirit  of 
God  begets. 

This  was  cheering  and  encouraging;  but 
God  seeth  not  as  man  seeth.  Great  hopes  had 
been  cherished  of  the  future  usefulness  of  the 
young  colporter,  Milo  Sakellarios,  zealous,  in- 
dustrious, and  faithful.  The  expectation  was 
that  in  him  the  mission  would  have  an  educated 
and  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament.  But 
God  called  him  to  higher  service  in  his  heaven- 
ly kingdom,  and  the  mission  was  left  bereaved. 

In  August,  1875,  the  church  received  a  new 
member  by  baptism,  and  there  were  two  hopeful 
inquirers,  one  of  whom  did  some  service  as  a 
colporter.  But  the  mission  was  fettered  by 
new  restrictions  on  the  part  of  the  government ; 
and  the  school,  which  had  been  very  prosperous, 
was  closed  by  the  police,  and  a  promise  not  to 
teach  evangelical  religion  was  demanded  as  the 
condition  of  being  allowed  to  re-open  it.  The 
Greek  government  sternly  opposes  any  thing 
bearing  the  aspect  of  proselytism. 

One  conversion  was  reported  in  the  year 
1876.     The  same  year  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sakellarios 


352  MISSION  TO   GREECE. 

visited  England,  Scotland,  and  France,  and  re- 
ceived some  contributions  with  reference  to  a 
chapel  which  they  desired  to  erect  in  Athens. 
A  place  was  secured  for  a  school,  also  a  teacher ; 
but  the  government  opposed,  except  under  con- 
ditions which  the  missionaries  were  unwilling 
to  fulfil.  The  work  of  the  church,  as  such,  met 
no  opposition  from  the  authorities ;  but  the  peo- 
ple showed  no  disposition  to  hear  and  heed  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

It  seems  as  if  the  time  for  the  successful 
evangelization  of  Greece  had  not  yet  come ;  but 
the  gospel  that  has  been  preached  there,  and 
the  Scriptures  and  religious  books  that  have 
been  put  in  circulation,  are  a  precious  seed 
which  will  not  perish.  The  land  on  whose  soil 
the  gospel  first  entered  Europe,  where  the  Lord 
opened  the  heart  of  Lydia,  and  brought  salva- 
tion to  the  household  of  the  prison-keeper  of 
Philippi, — where  the  disciples  were  first  called 
Christians,  and  where  the  word  of  God  "  grew 
mightily  and  prevailed,"  —  will  not  be  incurably 
given  over  to  superstition  and  formalism.  The 
soil  trodden  by  the  feet  of  the  great  apostle  is 
consecrated  to  ''the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of 
our  profession  ;  "  and  in  due  time  he  will  vindi- 
cate his  right  to  reign  over  it  in  glory.  The 
land  of  the  Parthenon  is  part  of  the  inheritance 
of  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  the  spot  on  which  stood 
the  altar  "  to  the  Unknown  God  "  will  become 
the  shrine  of  willing  worshippers,  knowing 
Christ  and  known  of  him,  who,  forsaking  their 
idolatries,  will  fall  at  his  feet  to  love  and  serve 
and  adore ;  **  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it." 


No.  XXII. 

MISSION   TO   SPAIN. 

Localities  of  the  Mission.  —  Beginning  of  the  Mission.  —  Churches 
constituted.  —  Native  Pastors.  —  Investigation  followed  by  Convic- 
tion. —  New  Chapel  at  Madrid.  —A  Portuguese  Hymn.  —  A  Re- 
markable Field.  —  Results.  —  Darker  Days.  —  Mr.  Knapp's  Res- 
ignation. —  New  Station.  —  Concluding  Words. 

THE  mission  to  Spain  commenced  in  the 
year  1870,  in  connection  with  the  labors 
of  Professor  W.  I.  Knapp,  has  had  its  princi- 
pal centres  at  Madrid,  Barcelona,  Alicante,  La 
Scala,  Valencia,  Linares,  and  Alcoy.  Madrid 
is  near  the  centre  of  Spain  ;  Barcelona,  Valen- 
cia, and  Alicante  are  in  the  eastern  part,  border- 
ing on  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Rev.  John  W. 
Terry,  appointed  a  missionary  in  the  fall  of  1870, 
arrived  in  Madrid  in  January,  1871  ;  but,  under 
the  conviction  that  the  interests  of  the  mission 
did  not  demand  the  presence  of  more  than 
one  agent  from  America,  after  three  months 
he  returned  to  the  United  States. 

Previous  to  November,  1 869,  Professor  W.  I. 
Knapp,  formerly  of  the  Hamilton  Institution, 
had  established  himself  as  an  independent  mis- 
sionary in  Madrid,  and  asked  of  the  Missionary 
Union    assistance    in    his    evangelizing  work. 

353 


354  MISSION  TO  SPAIN. 

Having  a  desire  to  take  part  in  forming  an 
incipient  mission  in  tliat  historical  country, 
which  was  represented  to  be  a  field  of  much 
promise,  the  Committee  joined  with  several 
friends  in  sending  two  brethren  to  Spain  to 
ascertain  the  state  of  the  field,  and  the  pros- 
pect of  opening  a  successful  mission  in  the  city 
of  Madrid.  The  investigation  proved  favorable, 
and  led  to  further  inquiries.  In  August,  1870, 
Mr.  Knapp  announced  by  letter  that  six  of  his 
hearers  desired  to  be  baptized.  The  next  intel 
ligence  was  that  eighteen  had  already  been  bap- 
tized ;  and  others  soon  followed. 

Aug.  10,  1870,  the  first  Baptist  church  in 
Madrid  was  regularly  constituted,  with  thirty- 
three  members.  The  Committee  immediately 
adopted  the  mission,  and  appointed  Professor 
Knapp  their  missionary.  A  church  was  also 
gathered  in  Alicante,  and  one  of  the  converts, 
Mr.  J.  M.  Calleja,  a  native  Spaniard,  called  to 
be  the  pastor.  Mr.  Martin  Ruiz  was  ordained 
pastor  of  the  church  of  Madrid,  which  left  Mr. 
Knapp  free  to  give  his  attention  to  the  educa- 
tion and  training  of  evangelists. 

In  August,  1 87 1,  two  persons  were  baptized 
in  Madrid,  —  one  a  woman  forty  or  fifty  years 
of  age  ;  the  other  a  man  who  had  taken  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  political  revolutions  of  Spain, 
and  enjoyed  considerable  reputation  as  a  public 
speaker.  The  latter  was  Rev.  G.  S.  Benoliel, 
who  afterwards  officiated  as  pastor  at  Madrid ; 
and  large  numbers  were  attracted  to  the  chapel 
by  his  eloquence. 

A  former  colporter  of   the  British  and  For- 


NEW  CHAPEL  AT  MADRID.  355 

eign  Bible  Society,  who  had  gathered  a  society 
at  La  Scala,  in  the  vicinity  of  Valladolid,  had 
relinquished  the  service  of  the  former  Society 
that  he  might  preach  the  gospel  to  the  people 
of  that  village.  The  people  had  fitted  up  a 
chapel,  and  provided  their  pastor  with  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  manifested  a  remarkable 
interest  in  .  the  regular  services.  After  some 
time  a  tract  on  Baptism,  issued  by  Professor 
Knapp,  fell  into  the  hands  of  this  man,  which, 
after  thorough  investigation,  led  him  to  the 
conviction  that  he  had  something  yet  to  do,  if 
he  would  follow  Christ  fully.  Accordingly  he 
hastened  to  Madrid  to  find  Professor  Knapp, 
and  to  ask  that  he  might  "  thus  fulfil  all  right- 
eousness." He  was  baptized  the  next  day,  and, 
being  already  the  pastor  of  a  church,  he  was 
also  ordained.  This  led  to  the  organization  of 
a  Baptist  church  in  La  Scala. 

During  the  year  187 1  a  church  was  formed 
at  Valencia.  Mr.  Ruiz  became  pastor  at  Ali- 
cante. In  1872  a  new  place  of  worship  was 
procured  at  Madrid,  and  a  convert  of  much 
promise  became  pastor.  Several  were  baptized, 
and  Mr.  Knapp  visited  the  United  States  for  a 
few  weeks.  The  unsettled  state  of  the  country 
was  an  obstacle  to  evangelical  work.  However, 
in  Alicante  there  were  several  conversions,  and 
accessions  to  the  church  by  baptism.  The 
whole  number  of  members  in  Spain  was  re- 
ported to  be  about  two  hundred. 

In  1873  Mr.  Benoliel,  who  was  able  to  speak 
Portuguese,  was  ambitious  to  preach  the  gospel 
in  Lisbon,  and  left  the  Spanish  work  temporarily 


356  MISSION  TO  SPAIN. 

for  that  purpose.  He  found  some  Baptists  in 
that  city,  and  had  a  congregation  of  fifty  hearers. 
The  Portuguese  Christians  have  the  well-known 
hymn,  "  The  morning  light  is  breaking,"  trans- 
lated into  their  language  very  literally,  and  in 
the  same  metre  as  in  English ;  and  not  only  in 
Portugal,  but  in  all  the  hills  and  valleys  of 
Brazil  where  there  are  Protestant  believers,  it 
is  heard  nearly  every  Sunday,  echoing  from 
chapel  to  chapel,  and  from  mountain  to  moun- 
tain ;  and  from  numerous  Christian  homes  the 
sweet  cadence  of  the  tune  so  familiar  to  our 
ears,  though  coupled  with  a  strange  speech, 
floats  on  the  air,  and  is  wafted  towards  heaven. 

In  Linares,  a  remarkable  field  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  south  of  Madrid,  forty-one 
were  baptized  during  the  year  1873,  and  others 
awaited  the. return  of  their  absent  pastor  to  re- 
ceive the  ordinance.  One  room  after  another, 
which  had  been  taken  for  preaching  the  gospel, 
in  a  little  time  could  not  hold  the  people,  and 
many  were  obliged  to  go  away  who  could  not 
gain  admittance.  At  a  place  where  the  native 
preacher  undertook  to  preach  in  the  open  air, 
the  authorities  having  heard  of  it,  he  was  in- 
vited to  stay  and  preach  two  weeks  in  the  public 
hall,  the  city  paying  for  the  lights  and  current 
expenses.  There  were  reported  in  1874,  four 
churches,  four  native  pastors  and  evangelists, 
sixty-two  baptized,  and  a  total  of  two  hundred 
and  forty-four. 

The  next  year  the  disorders  connected  with 
war  and  change  of  government  seriously  inter- 
fered with  evangelical  labor.     The  utmost  cir- 


MR.  KNAPP'S  RESIGNATION.  357 

cumspection  was  necessary  in  holding  meetings 
and  in  baptizing  converts.  The  pubHc  mind 
was  keenly  sensitive,  and  terribly  suspicious  of 
any  gathering  which,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
police,  might  suggest  or  grow  into  a  political 
cabal  or  junto.  At  Linares,  that  promising  sta- 
tion, the  work  was  wholly  broken  up,  and  the 
pastor  banished.  But  the  darkness  and  dis- 
couragement were  not  unmingled  :  at  Alicante 
twenty-five  were  baptized. 

The  year  1875  was  marked  by  the  adoption 
of  a  new  station,  and  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
Ricardo  P.  Cifre,  a  native  Spaniard  who  had 
been  a  student  at  the  Newton  Theological  In- 
stitution, to  be  missionary  there.  Mr.  Benoliel 
had  also  returned  from  Portugal,  and  again 
taken  up  the  work  at  Alicante.  Two  very 
interesting  cases  of  conversion  and  baptism 
occurred. 

In  November,  1876,  Mr.  Knapp  resigned  his 
connection  with  the  Union,  and  returned  to  this 
country.  He  had  labored  to  plant  missions  at 
important  centres,  whence  the  light  might  radi- 
ate in  all  directions ;  and  he  believed  he  might 
now  safely  leave  the  work  with  native  evangel- 
ists. The  church  in  Alicante  passed  through 
heavy  trials  :  the  pastor  left  it  in  charge  of  an 
evangelist,  and  in  1877  formed  a  new  station  in 
Alcoy,  a  town  of  twenty  thousand  inhabitants. 
The  chapel  was  formally  opened  on  Lord's-day 
evening,  June  10,  and  twelve  were  baptized.  But 
persecution  was  aroused,  and  the  pastor  was 
arrested  and  put  under  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
five  hundred  dollars.     Mr.  Cifre  with  much  diffi- 


358  MISSION  TO  SPAIN. 

culty  procured  a  place  of  worship  at  Barcelona, 
not  in  the  city,  but  three  miles  out  from  the 
centre.  The  United  States  consul  was  at  the 
opening  service.  At  the  latest  accounts  it  was 
reported  that  the  congregation  had  gradually 
increased,  and  a  little  company  were  ready  to 
confess  Christ  before  men. 

So  dense  is  the  night  of  ignorance  and  super- 
stition that  prevails  in  Spain,  that  only  a  Divine 
Power  can  disperse  it.  But  in  the  progress  of 
events,  in  due  time,  doubtless,  the  morning  will 
dawn,  and  the  darkness  flee  away.  It  is  some- 
thing to  have  won,  through  grace,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  converts  from  the  dominion  of  the  Man 
of  Sin.  The  beginning  may  be  small  and  dis- 
couraging. But,  when  God  arises  in  his  strength, 
the  little  one  will  become  a  thousand,  and  the 
small  one  a  strong  nation.  For  **  the  mouth  of 
the  Lord  hath  spoken  it." 


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